South America

Brazilian government-owned oil company Petrobras will repurchase nearly half of its 2023s after wrapping up the first stage of a tender offer that could total $4.5bn.

Lat Am bond bankers and investors may not have found an answer to Monday’s hot topic of the subordination premium on AES Gener’s junior subordinated hybrid, but the issuer left no doubts about the market’s appetite for paper with a highly oversubscribed trade.

More Latin American issuers could look for 30 year debt in international markets, said DCM bankers after Petrobras sold its first new note at that point of the curve since 2014.

Banco do Brasil returned to dollar markets on Wednesday, taking advantage of scarcity value to snatch a tight five year senior unsecured benchmark.

Banco do Brasil became the second state-owned Brazilian issuer to tap dollar markets in two days as it snatched a tight five year senior unsecured benchmark.

After the quietest start to a year in nearly a decade, Latin American primary markets jolted into action on Tuesday with Brazilian oil giant Petrobras making the biggest splash.

Chilean power generation company AES Gener is looking to take advantage of favourable market conditions and cut its funding costs by issuing a new subordinated note to refinance a similar instrument.

Bond investors are betting that Brazilian steel producer Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) can complete its comeback from the brink. Its bonds have rallied strongly enough for some holders to speculate a new issue may be on the cards.

Peruvian business group Alicorp may soon join the sparsely populated Latin American new issue pipeline as it looks to refinance an acquisition-driven bridge loan in the capital markets. Yet Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have taken differing views on the transaction.

A robust balance sheet did not protect Vale from returning to junk status with Moody’s this week as the Brazilian mining company’s bonds suffered the agency’s decision to punish the borrower.

Brazilian mining giant Vale’s bonds led losses in emerging markets on Wednesday after Moody’s became the first rating agency to put the notes on the junk pile in reaction to a tragic dam collapse.

Colombian airline Avianca could tap investors for a new bond issue in the coming weeks as it looks to refinance an existing bond maturing in May 2020.