Anhanguera Readies Domestic Debt Issue

Just a day after announcing the BRL510m ($286m) acquisition of Uniban, Anhanguera Educacional Partipacoes says it plans to borrow BRL400m in the Brazilian domestic bond market. The secondary education company is looking to sell a 2018 bond paying the DI+1.95%, amortizing twice yearly beginning 2015. Itau is managing the sale, to be done under the Rule 476 restricted format. Previous local bond issuance and a December BRL734m equity follow-on have helped fill Anhanguera’s acquisition war chest thus far, But the Uniban purchase agreed this week – taking out one of the few big university players left – was larger than its typical sub-BRL100m buys and may require some replenishment of funds. The issuer also has a BRL200m bond maturity next year. S&P has placed Anhanguera’s BB global rating on negative watch until it can assess the implications of the Uniban buy. This comes less than a month after an upgrade to BB from BB minus.