Americas

Weil, Gotshal & Manges has hired a capital markets partner from Shearman & Sterling in New York.

Uruguay began investor calls on Monday ahead of a proposed dollar and global local currency bond issue. The marketing effort came as the government continues to take steps towards issuing what would be the first sustainability-linked bond from any sovereign — though this week’s expected deal will not have ESG characteristics.

AI Candelaria, the holding company through which private investors own a stake in Colombian oil pipeline Ocensa, returned to bond markets on Monday with a larger than expected $600m deal as Ocensa’s resilience during the coronavirus pandemic outweighed concerns about social unrest and a potential credit rating downgrade in Colombia.

The dollar market filled up on Monday with mandates from a broad range of SSA borrowers. Canada, European Investment Bank, BNG and Tokyo Metropolitan Government were all set to hit the market on Tuesday.

Chinese health insurance and healthcare crowdfunding platform Waterdrop has raised $360m after pricing its US IPO at the top of the marketed range.

The government of Suriname issued a stinging riposte to its bondholders on Friday, accusing the creditor committee of issuing a “misleading and factually incorrect statement” about the sovereign’s debt restructuring.

CPPIB Capital made its debut in South African rand this week with an ‘old school MTN’ at the short end of the curve.

Four Latin America and Caribbean companies sold new issues in the dollar market at very tight looking levels on Thursday, as investors continue to feel pressure to put to cash to work amid extremely high liquidity.

Brazilian airline Gol on Thursday sold the first public bond deal from a Latin American airline since the coronavirus pandemic began, increasing the size of a tap of its 8% 2026s as hopes grow that the vaccine rollout will accelerate in the region and enable the worst affected industries to recover.

Green bonds took centre stage in the US corporate bond market this week, as issuance began to mount again after the recess for earnings blackouts. No less than three deals paired green and conventional tranches.

Chile raised $2bn in dollar markets on its fourth international bond market outing of the year on Tuesday, achieving slim new issue concessions even as volatility in domestic markets is leading the sovereign to lean more heavily on external funding sources.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s plan to look at helping US-style special purpose acquisition companies list in London smacks of short-termism. Even in the US, the epicentre of the Spac craze, there is a growing clamour for the Securities and Exchange Commission to toughen listing rules.