South America

It is less than two months since one of the most serious constitutional crises in Peru’s history, yet on Thursday the sovereign sold Sl10bn ($2.96bn) of new local currency debt at record low yields.

Two days after cancelling a tender offer that it had planned to finance with a private placement, Brazilian engineering and construction firm Andrade Gutierrez has launched an exchange offer seeking a similar result.

Brazilian engineering and construction firm Andrade Gutierrez has cancelled the buy-back of its bond maturing in 2021 after failing to sell a new five year bond, saying it expects to announce a revised transaction soon.

Some Brazilian bankers may be dumbfounded that their country and its highly unpopular president is considered a safe haven, but hope that Latin America’s sleeping giant is on the cusp of an upswing is driving demand for the country’s issuers amid social unrest elsewhere in the continent.

South American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento said that 61% of orders for its inaugural green bond in public markets, issued on Wednesday, had come from environmental, social and governance (ESG) and green portfolios.

South American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) said that 61% of orders for its inaugural green bond in public markets, issued on Wednesday, had come from ESG and green portfolios as the issuer raised €750m of euros.

Brazilian lender Itaú raised $750m of tier two notes on Wednesday, its first ever issue of Basel III-compliant tier two bonds in the international market.

Brazilian steel producer Gerdau could return to the international bond market this week for the first time in over two years, looking to take advantage of strong performance in its bonds and positive sentiment surrounding Brazil.

As of Thursday afternoon, pricing on a duo of Brazilian high yield credits looked set to be pushed to Friday, as investors in Latin American bonds were given the rare chance to get stuck into some riskier names.

Bankers said that Itaú Unibanco’s proposed tier two dollar deal was “exactly the kind of paper people want to buy” as the Brazilian lender lined up investor meetings in the wake of the Brazilian sovereign’s successful first ever dual tranche dollar deal.

Open interest in CME Group’s BRL/USD futures rose in the run up to the Brazilian Central Bank’s 50bp benchmark interest rate cut and has remained elevated ever since.

Brazil completed a tender offer for seven different dollar bonds on Tuesday, buying back for cash small amounts of bonds maturing between 2027 and 2041 but mostly guiding bondholders into its new long 30 year issued on Monday.