Americas

The Republic of Chile, until recently a rare issuer in international bond markets, sold its fourth cross-border bond of 2021 on Tuesday, becoming the fourth Latin America sovereign of the year to take advantage of a more liquid 20 year US Treasury to price a benchmark at that maturity.

Mexican industrial parks operator Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta began investor calls on Monday as it looks to become the latest Latin American issuer to join the sustainability-linked bond (SLB) club. Though bankers continue to see LatAm companies obtaining pricing benefits from SLBs, a handful of recent deals are trading below re-offer in secondary.

Gol, Brazil’s largest airline, is looking to reopen a private placement sold in December with the aim of making it a public benchmark this week. As it looks to double the size of the 8% June 2026 bond from $200m to $400m, Gol told investors at its roadshow presentation that it expected the yield on the tap to be around 8%.

Hong Kong-based Summit Healthcare Acquisition Corp has set the ball rolling for a Nasdaq IPO of about $200m.

US corporate bond issuance slowed to a trickle this week, due to earnings blackouts, leaving the market with $52bn of deals to show for April, a far cry from last year's $234bn at the height of coronavirus safety fundraising.

Latin America’s sustainability-linked bond (SLB) market is taking on a life of its own as issuers warm to the structure and tailor it to their own needs. Brazilian cosmetics company Natura was one such company to do just that this week, veering away from the standard 25bp coupon step-up on its SLB debut.

PSP Capital, the debt issuance arm of Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, is planning a dollar benchmark — its first international bond ever.

Laurentian Bank has wasted little time getting its newly set up covered bond programme a top rating with DBRS and is now undertaking a roadshow with plans to sell its first deal in Canadian dollars. It is also looking at subordinated issuance in local currency.

Brazilian cement maker Votorantim Cimentos’ CFO said that the company would prioritise sustainability-linked structures in its future fundraising, after it sold a domestic SLB in March that used linked the call price — rather than the coupon — to key performance indicators (KPIs).

Colombia’s sovereign bonds continue to trade wider as the government faces fierce opposition to a tax reform designed to salvage its investment grade rating. As protestors flocked to the streets on Wednesday to oppose the bill, which is being debated in Congress, the deputy finance minister said that the final version of the reform may not be as positive for government revenues as the initial version.

The pull of a big fee pool and global reallocation of capital and resources are prompting banks to rethink the way they serve clients in the technology sector on both sides of the Atlantic, writes David Rothnie.

The world’s largest wheel manufacturer, Iochpe-Maxion, on Tuesday became the fourth Latin American issuer in four business days to issue a sustainability-linked bond (SLB). The Brazilian issuer sold a $400m seven year deal with an apparently more ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction target than the one set by Mexican car parts supplier Metalsa on its own SLB last week.