Latin America

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.

Central American sovereign Honduras marked a new milestone for EM bond markets in the coronavirus era this week as it became the lowest-rated issuer from Latin America to issue during the crisis. Oliver West reports.

The possibility of Argentina’s debt negotiations ending up in court drew closer on Wednesday night, as the positions of the largest group of bondholders and the government appeared to be irreconcilable.

Nexa Resources, the mining arm of Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim, issued $500m of 10 year bonds on Monday, offering a healthy concession to its existing curve and seeing its new bond catch a broader rally on the break.

Central American sovereign Honduras found strong demand on its return to bond markets as investors and analysts said the issue ticked all the boxes for a yield-hungry investor base.