Latin America

Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), the only operator of long distance passenger railways in Chile, is looking to debut in international bond markets with a 10 or 30 year bond of up to $500m.

The unprecedented central role real money investors played in debt talks with Argentina and Ecuador could change the nature of sovereign restructuring, experts said, after the two countries this week reached agreements with creditors over billions of dollars of bonds. Oliver West and Ross Lancaster report.

The first ever international bond issued by government-owned lender Banco Nacional de Panamá (Banconal) performed well on the break this week as investors said the deal offered a healthy pick-up to the sovereign curve.

Several corporate issuers in Latin America could be on the cusp of losing their investment grade status, warned Fitch Ratings on Wednesday, with commodities-related businesses at particular risk.

Telecom Argentina said on Tuesday that it would issue nearly $389m of amortising bonds maturing in 2025 as a result of a successful debt exchange and raising $135m in new money.

Government owned lender Banco Nacional de Panamá (Banconal) sold its first ever international bond on Tuesday, notching a bumper order book and at tightening — as several recent Latin American deals have done — by 50bp.

As Argentina’s largest bondholders confirmed that they would support the government’s amended restructuring offer, the sovereign gave investors until August 24 to participate in the deal, with analysts expecting a high take-up.

Argentina announced an agreement with bondholders on Tuesday to restructure $65bn of debt. The country's dollar bonds had rallied late on Monday as rumours circulated that a deal was close following months of negotiations with either side repeatedly rejecting the other's proposals.

More than 95% of the holders of each of Ecuador’s 10 international bonds participated by Monday’s deadline in a consent solicitation that allows the sovereign to restructure $17.4bn of debt.

Electricity giant AES Corporation is preparing a bond issue that will consolidate the debt of its Panamanian operating subsidiaries into one special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Ecuador will be able to proceed with a consent solicitation to restructure $17.4bn of bonds after a New York judge denied a motion from Contrarian Capital and GMO for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the process.

Mexican miner Industrias Peñoles sold $600m of bonds on Thursday to keep Latin American primary markets ticking over as sell-side bankers expect only a trickle of deals from the region until September.