Latin American issuers stepped up bond market activity on Thursday, taking advantage of increased investor appetite and favorable financing conditions in what is expected to be an active month for bond sales from the region.
Honduras returned to the cross-border market for the first time since 2013, launching a $700m 2027 bond.
The Central American nation is the second sovereign to tap the cross-border bond markets so far this year. Last week, Ecuador retapped its 9.65% 2026 notes, adding $1bn to a bond it issued in December.
Chile announced plans to raise funds in its local capital markets. The finance ministry said it will issue a peso-denominated Rule 144A/Reg S Euroclear bond, naming BNP Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to coordinate the trade.
The bonds are expected be similarly structured to a local 2021 bond that Chile carried out in September, said a person familiar with the planned transaction. At least four trades have hit the screens in Chile’s local bond market in the last month.
Among Latin America’s corporate issuers, Brazil’s Raizen Energia planned to sell $500m in 10-year notes. Bankers and investors are watching the transaction closely, expecting a number of Brazilian companies to raise cash in the international bond markets in the coming weeks.
Aeropuertos Dominicanos (Aerodom), which operates six of the Dominican Republic’s nine airports, was also in the market with a prospective bond sale to fund an offer to buy back $484m in outstanding 9.25% 2019 notes.
Argentine natural gas distributor Genneia was looking to raise up to $350m in a cross-border bond sale. Genneia, which has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Itau BBA and JPMorgan, is among the first of what is expected to be a flurry of deals from Argentine companies after the sovereign completes a planned upcoming bond sale.
Argentina said on Wednesday that it will look to sell up to $5bn in bonds, announced an investor roadshow for next week. Two sources told LatinFinance that Argentina could potentially issue up to $10bn this month.
The sovereign named BBVA, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan and Santander to lead the deal. The investor meetings are scheduled to start on Monday in London and then in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a debt capital markets banker aware of Argentina’s plans.
Argentina is hoping to issue on January 19, a day before US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, to avoid any potential volatility that could hit emerging markets, a second banker familiar with the planned transaction told LatinFinance.