Mexico’s Alsea Issues MXP1bn

Mexico’s Alsea, the operator of restaurant brands including Starbucks, Dominos Pizza and Burger King, has issued MXP1bn ($85m) in 3-year floating-rate domestic bonds, says a banker on the deal. The transaction was 1.23x oversubscribed and priced at TIIE+130bp, in line with guidance. Private banks and investment funds were the main buyers of the paper. “This is a market segment that we see growing considerably as Mexico has a young population that has an increasing disposable income,” says one investor. That the company is looking to diversify into other LatAm countries also makes it attractive, says another buyer. Alsea plans to use proceeds to refinance outstanding debt. Actinver and HSBC managed the sale, rated AA on a national scale. The restaurant operator told LatinFinance in March that it was looking to expand in the domestic market and in South America, but the banker leading the deal says proceeds would not be used to finance that expansion.