Cabei Targets MXP, CHF in November

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) is looking to sell bonds in Mexican pesos and Swiss francs in November, Jorge Cortes, acting head of capital markets, tells LatinFinance. The price sensitive issuer finds that the two currencies provide the best arbitrage opportunities. A/A2/A rated Cabei is targeting $300m-equivalent in the Swiss market at 3-7 years, and is looking at $150m-equivalent in Mexico’s domestic market through 3 or 4-year bonds. Both would be consistent with the bank’s long-term strategy to diversify and grow its investor base. Cabei has $470m left to issue by year-end and is also preparing to issue a $50m 15-year bond through a private placement in the dollar market before the end of the year. The multilateral plans to mandate in approximately two weeks, Cortes says. As of June 2013, approximately 28% of funding has come from the dollar markets, 19% from the Mexican bond market and 11% from the CHF market. Cabei in March raised CNH500m ($80m) in its first-ever offshore renminbi bond. The 2016 Dim Sum bond came at a 3.20% yield. Looking farther ahead, Cabei is considering issuance in a range of other international markets, including Australian dollars.