Citi Heard Clinching Cabcorp Bond Mandate

The Central American Bottling Corporation (Cabcorp) is heard mandating Citi as it looks to raise an expected $150m in the international bond markets. This comes as Moody’s assigns a Ba2 rating for the proposed senior unsecured fixed-rate global note after reviewing a preliminary draft of the legal documentation for the offering. The Guatemala-based anchor bottler for PepsiCo in Central America is controlled by the Castillo family, with Pepsico holding an 18% stake. Pepsico’s involvement is seen as credit positive, but the ratings are constrained by its comparatively modest profits against global peers and the company’s strategy to pursue acquisitions on a regular basis, the agency says. Cabcorp expanded into the Caribbean in 2009 when it bought PepsiAmericas and its territories in Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Trinidad. As of September 30, 2011, short-term maturities only amounted to $19m, versus $85m of cash on hand, according to Moody’s.