Latin America

Uruguay raised $2bn-equivalent of debt on Wednesday — the bulk of which came from a rare inflation-linked local currency issue — to become the final investment grade Latin American sovereign to tap international bond markets in the coronavirus era.

DCM bankers said that Mexican personal care products maker Kimberly Clark de México (KCM) was from the ideal sector for this market after it tightened pricing on a new issue sharply despite a difficult day in global markets.

Bankers said that Chilean cable company VTR had catered for both emerging markets and high yield bond buyers as it raised $1.15bn of new bonds across two heavily oversubscribed tranches on Wednesday.

Mexican real estate investment trust (Reit) Fibra Uno’s plans to return to bond markets were shaken on Tuesday when the issuer delayed pricing “as part of company protocol” when an earthquake hit the country.

Uruguay-headquartered Navios South American Logistics on Tuesday notched a $500m 10-year bond that left the company with a far more comfortable debt maturity profile. But Navios had to improve terms for investors — and wait a week after it first announced the issue — to get the refinancing done.

BBVA is the latest large European bank to have suffered a ratings downgrade during the Covid-19 pandemic, with Fitch having moved the issuer’s debt ratings down by a notch blaming a weaker operating environment in Mexico and Spain.

VTR Finance, the Chilean subsidiary of telecoms group Liberty Latin America, is marketing a dual-tranche refinancing that is likely to be distributed to both EM and dedicated high yield bond buyers and will shift debt towards the operating company.

Trinidad and Tobago tapped bond markets for the first time for four years on Monday with a deal that its finance minister claimed “achieved what our detractors said was impossible”.

Mexican conglomerate Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) turned to international bond markets for the third time this year20 on Monday, clinching its tightest dollar funding of the year despite wider spreads.

Bankers said that Uruguay could provide a stern test of risk appetite if it decides to announce a new bond issue in local currency, after the sovereign began investor calls saying it could issue in dollars and/or Uruguayan pesos.

US investment managers GMO and Greylock will again unite to begin negotiations with Belize after the government said on Wednesday it wanted to delay all bond payments until February.

Peru's largest commercial lender Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP) will begin fixed income investor calls on Monday as it contemplates a tier two capital bond issue, just two weeks after parent company Credicorp issued a debut $500m senior deal.