LatAm Bonds

Coca-Cola Femsa, the world’s largest franchised Coca-Cola bottler, is preparing to sell a debut green bond that it says it will use to finance its transition towards low-carbon operations and minimise its exposure to environmental risks.

The Province of La Rioja said on Monday that, for the second time this year, it would take advantage of a 30-day grace period on a bond coupon payment to weigh up its options as it looks likely to become the latest regional government in Argentina to restructure its debt.

Argentine oil and gas company Compañía General de Combustible (CGC) has extended the early-bird deadline on an offer to swap its 2021s for 2025s, with 63.92% of the bondholders having already agreed to participate in the exchange.

The agreement on collective action clauses (CACs) reached by Argentina, Ecuador and their creditors is highly complex. But it is hugely encouraging that major investors are actively participating on an issue that is crucial to the health of the market.

Senior secured bondholders of Colombian airline Avianca could recover 45% of their principal if they provide debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to the company, which has been in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since May.

With the world’s most important asset managers taking a more active role in sovereign debt restructuring negotiations, the once niche topic of collective action clauses (CACs) is set to rise up the capital markets agenda as participants debate whether adjustments made by Argentina and Ecuador to the 2014 ICMA CACs should become common practice.

Colombian airline Avianca’s senior secured bondholders will be able to recover around 45% of their principal if they agree to provide debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to the company, which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since May.

Holders of the Province of Neuquén’s unsecured bonds due in 2025 said on Tuesday that they had organised to “defend and protect” their rights as they followed the Argentine region’s secured creditors in rejecting its exchange offer.

Argentina finally filed its official updated debt restructuring proposal this week and, as expected, drew the support of bondholders. But the bigger news may be in the small print, as sovereign debt experts immediately began to examine the changes implemented to the bonds' collective action clauses (CACs).

The government of Bermuda turned to bond markets for the first time since November 2018 on Monday, raising $1.35bn of new notes to repay debt and fund fiscal spending including Covid-19 measures.

A group of bondholders holding more than a quarter of the Province of Neuquén’s senior secured bonds said on Friday that they “categorically” reject the Argentine regional government’s restructuring proposal.

Central American sovereign Belize said this week that more than three-quarters of its bondholders supported its proposal to capitalise its next three bond payments. The Covid-19 pandemic is battering the country’s tourism-reliant economy.