Argentina

Mastellone Hermanos, the largest dairy company in Argentina, has fallen short of getting the bondholder support it needs for its proposed distressed exchange offer. The borrower, which is dealing with the fallout from capital controls in its home country, needs the support of another 1.47% of its bondholders to proceed with the offer.

Official and multilateral lenders are taking a lenient stance on perennial defaulter Argentina but bond investors are increasingly sceptical whether the IMF programme that the sovereign says it wants will turn its fiscal position around. Markets are pricing in another default within a few years, despite a rebound in bonds this week, while eccentric policy decisions continue to frustrate bondholders.

Argentine sovereign bonds rallied for a third consecutive day on Tuesday amid expectations that the Paris Club group of official creditors will show leniency over a looming $2.4bn payment. But some in the market saw more value in the country's provincial bonds, and the Province of Buenos Aires hinted after the close that it is edging closer to agreement with its bondholders after more than a year in default.

The Province of Buenos Aires extended the participation of its restructuring offer for the 16th time this week, but bondholders denied the province's claim that they had requested the extension.

Oil and gas producer Pan American Energy sold $300m of six year bonds on Tuesday in the first international new issue from an Argentine borrower since July 2019, surprising some market participants who had been sceptical about its chances.

Oil and gas producer Pan American Energy is looking to become the first Argentine company to issue international bonds this year, though it is the company’s operations in Bolivia and Mexico that may enable it to dodge the distress in its home country.

Mexico’s deputy finance minister Gabriel Yorio told GlobalCapital on Wednesday that a block of Latin American countries was forming to ensure that the plight of middle-income economies was not forgotten as the world looks for ways to alleviate financial pressures on developing countries.

Argentina’s largest province, Buenos Aires, has extended the expiry date on its debt exchange for the 14th time. But unless the province makes important improvements to the terms, the offer has no chance of success.

Bonds issued by the Province of Buenos Aires enjoyed a rally this week as some investors sensed a restructuring agreement is closer, even as a group of bondholders finally lost patience and sued Argentina’s largest province in New York’s courts.

Investors holding over a quarter of the Province of Buenos Aires’ international bonds said they would “vigorously pursue” the legal proceedings that they began on Tuesday against Argentina’s largest province, which has been in default since April 2020. But bonds rallied as some saw the move as a sign that a resolution was nearing.

Holders of more than 96% of Entre Rios bonds participated in a consent solicitation that will grant the issuer debt relief and see creditors abandon legal action, leaving just three Argentine provinces in default.

Argentina’s northernmost province, Jujuy, said on Monday evening that it had reached an agreement with more than half the holders of its $210m green bond regarding a restructuring proposal that would grant it significant short-term debt relief.