LatAm Bonds

Banco Santander has become the 14th primary dealer in the domestic Colombian government bond market, said the finance ministry, representing the first expansion of the sovereign’s market makers since 2016.

Latin America’s largest e-commerce company, MercadoLibre, has mandated five banks ahead of a debut bond offering that will include one tranche of sustainable bonds.

Mexico returned to familiar territory by becoming the first Latin American borrower of the year to issue bonds on Monday. The format, however, was less familiar, as the 50 year SEC-registered $3bn bond — launched at around 11am New York time — will be listed on the stock exchanges of both Luxembourg and Taipei.

Gol, Brazil’s largest domestic airline, has priced a $200m six year private placement. This is one of the first deals from a Latin American airliner since the pandemic struck, and comes after a number of peers in the region have fallen into bankruptcy.

In what is likely to have been the final Latin America new bond issue of 2020, Paraguayan beef exporter Frigorífico Concepción added $21m to its January 2025s in a small tap on Friday.

Despite funding stresses in certain Latin American countries, bond markets will continue to help the region with its financing needs. For now, this eases the pressure for reform and fiscal consolidation, but issuers must eventually face up to political and social turbulence. Oliver West reports.

Primary bond markets in Latin America and CEEMEA finally took some rest this week after a busier than usual December, but bankers covering both regions expect emerging markets borrowers to be fast out of the blocks in January as EM credit looks continued to benefit from low rates.

After a torrid year, Peru’s domestic bond market is enjoying a minor resurgence this month. But with local pension funds still not offering corporate borrowers pre-crisis levels of funding, DCM bankers believe Peruvian companies may turn to international funding markets in greater numbers during 2021.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) said on Wednesday that it would mobilise $1bn of resources to support Latin American and Caribbean countries in their efforts to acquire and distribute Covid-19 vaccines, as analysts warn most of the economic benefits from vaccinations may only reach Latin America in the second half of 2021.

Political volatility might finally be biting in Peru, with Fitch putting the country's rating on negative outlook.

A group of bondholders holding more than half of the Argentine province of Córdoba’s international bonds took just one day to yet again reject the issuer’s attempt to amend terms on $1.67bn of bonds. As the countdown to default begins, creditors called for discussions “rooted in the realities of the province’s financial position and outlook”.

Only a small number of holders of Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile’s (Codelco) bonds agreed to participate in the first stage of a tender offer the government-owned copper producer will finance using proceeds from a recent bond issue.