Latin American development bank CAF and Argentine state-owned energy company YPF added to this week’s gush of issuance from the region, raising a total of $1.5 billion in the international market on Wednesday.
CAF priced $1 billion worth of four-year bonds in a benchmark-sized deal, while YPF sold $500 million worth of 10-year notes in its second cross-border issue of 2024.
The development bank’s offering drew strong demand from investors, peaking at $10.8 billion and closing at $10.7 billion and representing “the largest order book in CAF’s history,” Manuel Valdez, the lender’s head of capital markets and derivatives, told LatinFinance.
It priced the 4.125% 2028 notes at 99.824 to yield 4.184%, or 80 basis points over SOFR mid-swaps, after opening the initial price talk on Tuesday at around 90 basis points, he said.
“We decided to price the second day by squeezing 10 bps lower than the IPT when we had an order book of over $7 billion,” Valdez said.
CAF has now issued three benchmark-sized deals this year, following the sale of $1.75 billion in five-year bonds in January and £1 billion ($1.3 billion) worth of five-year notes in the sterling market in April.
ARGENTINE OFFERING
YPF, for its part priced 2031 notes at par to yield 8.75% after opening the initial price talk earlier in the day in the low-9% and setting guidance at around 8.875%, plus or minus five basis points, according to a source involved in the deal.
Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan and Santander were joint bookrunners on the offering, the source added.
The oil and gas producer will use the proceeds to fund a tender offer underway for its 8.5% 2025 and 6.95% 2027 bonds, and the remaining amount for investments and working capital.
Moody’s and S&P rated the issuance Caa3 and CCC respectively.
YPF printed $800 million worth of seven-year dollar-denominated notes in January, ending a four-year absence from the global market.