South America

State-owned lender Banco del Estado de Chile (Banco Estado) kicked off what could be a busy January for Chilean issuance with a $750m five year senior unsecured deal on Monday.

Chile’s head of international finance has told GlobalCapital that the debt management office is making communication with investors its number one priority as it announced borrowing plans — including an atypically large amount of international issuance — earlier than usual after a turbulent fourth quarter.

Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig said last week that it would redeem $446m of bonds issued three years ago, to improve its debt profile.

Latin American bond bankers are reporting busy January pipelines as issuers look to take advantage of low rates before the US election season hits next year.

Big European investment banks pivoted towards the Americas during 2019 in an attempt to boost revenues and position themselves for the next downturn, writes David Rothnie. With large M&A across the industry still off the table, banks are finding scale through joint ventures and alliances.

A group of institutional investors owning Argentine government bonds said on Tuesday that they have hired Mens Sana — which is also advising creditors of the Province of Buenos Aires — and UBS as financial advisors ahead of a likely sovereign restructuring.

Standard & Poor’s on Monday became the third rating agency to react to political uncertainty in Bolivia, by putting its BB- rating on negative outlook. Yet its bond prices have begun to recover.

A group of institutional investors who own bonds issued by Argentina’s largest regional government, the Province of Buenos Aires, has hired advisors as analysts say a January amortisation from the issuer could be indicative of the new administration’s attitude to debt obligations.

A friendly face in the finance ministry was apparently enough to lift Argentine sovereign bonds ahead of a looming restructuring, but analysts warned that the government was still showing no willingness to implement the austerity measures that would make debt sustainable.

Another Latin American borrower was set to price dollar deals this week as GlobalCapital went to press, as smaller issuers took a rare opportunity to hold the full attention of investors.

Bonds issued by Avianca traded up this week after the Colombian airline completed the final stage of a complex restructuring, effectively giving it permission to push out a looming bond maturity by three years.

Colombian lender Bancolombia made a late year dash to international markets on Tuesday as it sold Basel III-compliant subordinated notes to fund the buy-back of old style tier two bonds.