Latin America

Light, the fifth largest energy distributor in Brazil, issued $600m of five year bonds on Tuesday to wrap up a hectic period of LatAm high yield issuance. But the primary market is likely to take at least a one day pause as recent issues trade softly and the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concludes a two day meeting on Wednesday.

Brazilian meatpacker JBS made an apparently impressive entry into the world of ESG debt last week with a well received sustainability-linked bond (SLB). While an SLB is an encouraging first step for a company that has for years been under the scrutiny of environmental campaigners, the KPIs in the deal cover a fraction of the company’s emissions, and the deal shows investors need be tougher on SLB issuers if the format is to have value.

Credit Suisse has hired from a European rival to lead its Brazil DCM efforts as it edges up the LatAm bookrunner league tables.

SierraCol Energy, the Carlyle Group-owned spin-off of Occidental Petroleum’s onshore operations in Colombia, sold its inaugural international bond issue on Monday to continue a surge in LatAm high yield issuance — though some bankers felt the underwhelming aftermarket performance of other recent borrowers affected the deal.

A group of Suriname’s bondholders on Monday followed through on their threat to cancel the payment relief that they had offered the sovereign, effectively pushing the government into technical default. But the move only supports expectations that restructuring negotiations will be lengthy and fraught.

StoneCo, the Brazilian financial technology firm, debuted in international bond markets on Friday with a seven year benchmark that it will partially use to finance an investment in digital bank Banco Inter.

Frontera Energy on Thursday became the latest Latin America oil and gas company to take advantage of strong oil prices to tap bond markets, with the company — which operates mostly in Colombia — increasing the size of a five year deal and attracting a broad range of investors.

Brazilian airline Azul on Thursday sold the first triple-C rated new issue from Latin America since the coronavirus pandemic began, pricing a five year bond inside guidance to as investors swarm all over the region’s riskier credits.

The nascent sustainability-linked bond (SLB) faced a big test this week with deals from the oil, power and steel sectors, and most notably from Brazil meat processor, JBS. But if the enthusiastic reception to the deals suggested the market passed with flying colours, there were calls for more scrutiny of the relevance of KPIs if the SLB label is to mean anything. Oliver West reports.

Latin American supranational Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) has become the first borrower from the region to sell paper linked to Sofr.

A trio of foreign banks tapped an attractive Swiss market this week, finding opportunities to top up their well-advanced funding programmes with a bit of pricing arbitrage.

Light, the fifth largest energy distributor in Brazil, began investor calls on Wednesday ahead of a proposed five year non-call three deal that it will use to redeem its only international bond. The company joins a long line-up of LatAm companies preparing to issue, with the strong pipeline likely to translate into new supply as soon as Thursday.