South America

Alantra is buffing its credit portfolio advisory team with the addition of Marcus Evans and Christos Stefanidis, who will join as managing directors in the UK and Greece. The credit portfolio advisory firm is also opening up offices in Latin America and China.

Rating agencies say that senior unsecured bondholders in Latam Airlines face bleak recovery prospects after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the largest airline in Latin America to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.

Argentina officially entered default for the ninth time on May 22 as the grace period expired on $503m of overdue coupon payments. However, there is increased optimism that the sovereign will reach an agreement with bondholders after the largest creditor group said “direct and immediate discussion” was required.

Argentina is set to enter default on its international debt for the ninth time on Friday, but the sovereign curve performed well this week as investors and analysts say that creditors will continue negotiations well after the grace period on $503m of coupon payments expires.

Investors say that bond markets are wide open for many Brazilian companies, but even as access to credit has suddenly become a major topic for the country's corporate executives, most of the cash-rich companies they run are shying away from international markets and betting that they will be able to achieve better borrowing terms in the future than are on offer today.

Only in Argentina could a finance minister claim that default on billions of dollars of bonds constitutes merely an “anecdotal date”.

The president of Grupo Energía de Bogotá (GEB) told GlobalCapital that the issuer’s faith in demand for its bonds had allowed it to tighten pricing sharply on its long-awaited return to bond markets last week, as the company waits for an improvement in domestic market conditions to continue its capital markets activity.

Analysts expect negotiations between Argentina and its foreign bondholders to continue past May 22, the date that the sovereign could enter default, with restructuring proposals from the creditors implying recovery values up to 50% higher than what the issuer initially proposed. But as both parties appear to be keen to find a solution, the bonds continued their rally on Monday.

Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) began investor calls on Monday as it looks to sell a benchmark-sized euro denominated social bond to help fund its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

ACI Airport Sudamérica, the operator of Uruguay’s largest airport, has received consent from its bondholders to delay a year of debt payments to help it through the Covid-19 pandemic — just weeks after creditors of its Argentine sister company achieved the same.

Argentine authorities were understood to be weighing up debt restructuring proposals from several bondholders on Sunday evening as default looms large for the South American sovereign.

The Province of Buenos Aires (PBA) legally entered default this week amid pleas from its creditors for serious restructuring negotiations. But Argentine sovereign bondholders are still holding out hope that they may come to an agreement with the national government.