LatAm Bonds

Latin America DCM bankers’ promises that a sovereign would jump on recent market positivity materialised on Monday as Mexico turned to international bond funding for the fifth time this year with a heavily oversubscribed liability management exercise that totalled $6.625bn, once switch-tenders were included.

Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano tapped its sustainability-linked notes for a further $500m on Monday, overcoming rating agency concerns about leverage to issue 85bp inside where it originally sold the bonds just two months ago.

B2W Digital, the digital arm of Brazilian retail group Americanas Universe, began investor calls on Monday as it looks to debut in international bond just weeks after its parent company successfully did the same.

Mexican power generator FEL Energy is the most recent Latin American credit to announce bond issuance plans but bankers covering the region expect several drive-by trades this week before the US Thanksgiving holiday cuts the window short next week.

Suriname has accepted bondholder pleas to participate in discussions with the International Monetary Fund as it looks to persuade creditors to grant five months of payment relief ahead of a full-blown debt restructuring.

The Inter-American Development Bank’s board of directors on Friday appointed the executive team that will serve under recently installed president Mauricio Claver-Carone, with former finance ministers of Paraguay and Ecuador taking key roles.

Marcelo Delmar, a veteran of Latin American bond markets, has joined Morgan Stanley’s debt capital markets team in New York, GlobalCapital understands.

Panamanian toll road operator Empresa Nacional de Autopistas (Ena) notched up what one observer called a “slamdunk” debut deal on Thursday and swiftly traded higher in the grey market. But the lack of primary activity from Latin American heavyweight borrowers was puzzling some bankers.

Latin American bond bankers said that Mexican telecoms company Total Play Comunicaciones’ debut bond issue on Monday — the second Mexican high yield deal since the onset of Covid-19 — was an encouraging sign for other issuers from the country.

Argentina’s second largest city, Córdoba, said on Wednesday that holders of 83.79% of its bonds had agreed to its consent solicitation — enough to trigger the collective action clause and enable the issuer to restructure the entire $150m note.

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) said it became the first multilateral lender to sell a Covid-19 “vaccine bond” after raising $50m of five-year money to support immunisation initiatives when Covid-19 vaccine becomes available.

Though the bond market reaction to the impeachment of Peru’s popular president was not as severe as it would have been in most Latin American countries, investors said that political volatility would continue to challenge the sovereign’s credit profile and that the situation presented risks for next year’s elections.