LatAm Bonds

Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC), the Argentine oil and gas exploration and production company, will receive a rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s if it is able to refinance a $300m 2021 note with a new bond.

Three Latin America companies sold new bonds to buy back old ones this week as investor appetite shows no sign of letting up.

Latin American new issue volumes are rapidly catching up with last year’s totals and bond bankers expect some activity to continue during the usually quiet August period as borrower-friendly conditions endure.

Mexico responded to the lower rates environment on Tuesday with an opportunistic $3.56bn liability management exercise, shrugging off any credit worries to issue at a very slim concession.

Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (SCIB), Banco Santander’s investment banking unit, has appointed Marcel Patiño from Itaú BBA as its new head of Santander SCIB Colombia.

Peruvian holding company Intercorp Peru issued more debt than initially intended on Wednesday after notching a heavily oversubscribed order book in its first international trade since 2015.

Brazilian conglomerate Cosan returned to bond markets on Wednesday with a $750m 10 year non-call five year trade that bankers on the deal said landed close to fair value.

Mexico showed that even trickier credit stories could take advantage of the borrower-friendly rates environment, surprising many with a $3bn liability management exercise just two weeks after finance minister Carlos Urzúa resigned.

Colombian airline Avianca will use a par exchange to attempt to tackle a $550m May 2020 bond maturity, offering noteholders collateral and potential for a coupon increase — if the company is able to renegotiate certain loans.

Central American sovereign El Salvador will begin meeting bond investors on Wednesday as it looks to issue its first international bond under president Nayib Bukele.

Brazilian airline Gol reopened its convertible bonds for a further $80m last week, taking advantage of a strong performance of its existing bonds and stock to achieve pricing that the CFO described as “fantastic” and leave the company in a position to continue its liability management.

Latin American borrowers continue to make up for lost time amid encouraging issuance conditions as debt capital markets bankers say a few more could sneak through to primary markets before the August break.