Latin
American corporates have pushed forward with a series of liability management
exercises as the primary cross-border bond market has dried up.

Bond
buybacks, debt exchanges and restructurings have kept the region’s
debt capital markets busy ahead of a potential benchmark sovereign bond issue by Argentina.

Chilean
holding company Pampa
Calichera, which owns about 20% of lithium producer Sociedad Quimica
Minera (SQM), closed a tender offer this week to buy back up to $70m
of its outstanding 7.75% 2022 notes. The company accepted $18.6m in notes
tendered by April 8, offering to pay $1,020 for every $1,000 in principal. Pampa
Calichera announced the buyback in September 2015 and extended the deadline six
times.

Empresa
Electrica Angamos, a division of Chilean power company AES Gener, expanded a bond buyback offer for its
4.875% 2029 senior secured notes. Angamos now intends to buy up to $300m of the
$800m outstanding, up from the original offer of $200m. The company has also extended the early bird deadline to April 25. Citi is managing the deal.

According to one investor, corporate issuers from Latin America are trying to take advantage of where yields stand at the moment. A strong dollar is making
deals more expensive, which has prompted the increased demand for
liability management exercises, he said. Meanwhile, new issue volumes remain low,
leaving corporates to seek other means to deleverage, he added.

Peruvian agribusiness Camposol
this week asked holders of its 9.875% February 2017 bonds to switch to a new
$200m 2021 bond that pays a higher coupon. The company has given noteholders until April 22 to make the exchange. Between April 23 and May 6, the bondholders can trade $1 in old notes for
$0.95 in new ones, a banker said.

Camposol
is backing the new notes with up to $360m in assets, including land and machinery, to entice bondholders to make the switch. Bank of
America-Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan are leading the deal.

Argentine McDonald’s franchisee Arcos
Dorados launched a cash tender offer for any or all of its outstanding
10.25% 2016 BRL627m ($179m) senior notes payable in dollars. The company has offered
to pay bondholders BRL970 for every BRL1,000 in principal, plus a BRL30 premium
for investors that tender their notes by April 21. Citi and Itau are the dealer
managers.