South America

Investors in Latin America are growing increasingly concerned that social unrest in Colombia, where tax reform plans are in tatters and more than 40 people have been killed, is a sign of things to come, with sovereigns facing severe pressure as they attempt to improve credit profiles that have been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Yet sovereign bond markets are seeing only modest, short-lived sell-offs, given the enormous liquidity still in bond markets.

The Province of Buenos Aires extended the participation of its restructuring offer for the 16th time this week, but bondholders denied the province's claim that they had requested the extension.

Uruguay began investor calls on Monday ahead of a proposed dollar and global local currency bond issue. The marketing effort came as the government continues to take steps towards issuing what would be the first sustainability-linked bond from any sovereign — though this week’s expected deal will not have ESG characteristics.

AI Candelaria, the holding company through which private investors own a stake in Colombian oil pipeline Ocensa, returned to bond markets on Monday with a larger than expected $600m deal as Ocensa’s resilience during the coronavirus pandemic outweighed concerns about social unrest and a potential credit rating downgrade in Colombia.

Brazilian airline Gol on Thursday sold the first public bond deal from a Latin American airline since the coronavirus pandemic began, increasing the size of a tap of its 8% 2026s as hopes grow that the vaccine rollout will accelerate in the region and enable the worst affected industries to recover.

Chile raised $2bn in dollar markets on its fourth international bond market outing of the year on Tuesday, achieving slim new issue concessions even as volatility in domestic markets is leading the sovereign to lean more heavily on external funding sources.

AI Candelaria, the holding company through which private investors own a stake in Colombian oil pipeline Ocensa, is looking to issue senior secured bonds in the coming days as bankers say a sell-off in Colombian bonds remains relatively small despite major social unrest.

The Republic of Chile, until recently a rare issuer in international bond markets, sold its fourth cross-border bond of 2021 on Tuesday, becoming the fourth Latin America sovereign of the year to take advantage of a more liquid 20 year US Treasury to price a benchmark at that maturity.

Gol, Brazil’s largest airline, is looking to reopen a private placement sold in December with the aim of making it a public benchmark this week. As it looks to double the size of the 8% June 2026 bond from $200m to $400m, Gol told investors at its roadshow presentation that it expected the yield on the tap to be around 8%.

Latin America’s sustainability-linked bond (SLB) market is taking on a life of its own as issuers warm to the structure and tailor it to their own needs. Brazilian cosmetics company Natura was one such company to do just that this week, veering away from the standard 25bp coupon step-up on its SLB debut.

Brazilian cement maker Votorantim Cimentos’ CFO said that the company would prioritise sustainability-linked structures in its future fundraising, after it sold a domestic SLB in March that used linked the call price — rather than the coupon — to key performance indicators (KPIs).

Colombia’s sovereign bonds continue to trade wider as the government faces fierce opposition to a tax reform designed to salvage its investment grade rating. As protestors flocked to the streets on Wednesday to oppose the bill, which is being debated in Congress, the deputy finance minister said that the final version of the reform may not be as positive for government revenues as the initial version.