Latin America

Argentina’s second most populated province raised $450m in international bond markets on Thursday in a deal that bankers away from the trade viewed as coming tighter than expectations.

Mexican conglomerate Grupo Kuo sold $450m of 10 year non-call five notes on Thursday in its first international bond sale in five years, as bankers praised the issuer for its timing.

Argentine energy holding company Pampa Energía said on Thursday that it was delaying a planned peso-linked bond sale, as Lat Am DCM bankers said that caution was the most sensible path for the borrower.

Argentina’s largest private energy company Pampa Energía wrapped up investor meetings with a lunch in New York on Wednesday but is yet to issue initial price thoughts on a planned fixed rate peso-linked international bond.

Mexico’s third largest lender Banorte will price its first ever Basel III-compliant additional tier one capital bond on Thursday after releasing initial price thoughts on Wednesday.

French lender Crédit Agricole has hired Italo Lombardi from Standard Chartered as its Latin America economist and strategist.

Argentine energy holding company Pampa Energía is planning to sell its peso-linked international bond on Wednesday, according to a filing with the local regulator.

Marla Dukharan, group economist for the Royal Bank of Canada’s Caribbean operations, is to leave the bank on June 30 after six years, GlobalCapital understands.

Argentina’s second most populated province is preparing its second international bond issue of the year and will begin meeting investors on Monday.

Pampa Energía’s peso-linked bond plans and Banorte’s proposed perpetual paper are the picks of Latin America’s bond pipeline, as the region’s issuers ready another wave of corporate issuance, despite a weaker market.

Argentina had market participants choking on their churrasco this week with a century bond that triggered mixed reactions but sent a clear message about the bond market’s extraordinary ability to back any story it likes the sound of. Oliver West reports.

DCM bankers say that Taiwan’s Formosa market could offer compelling funding options for several Latin American bankers after Mexican utility CFE became the first Lat Am corporate to issue in it this week.