South America

State Grid Corporation of China is seeking a loan to support its $2.23bn acquisition of Sempra Energy’s Chilean business. Even though it is a time of turmoil in Chile, lenders are bidding aggressively for the deal, owing to the state-owned Chinese company’s strong credentials, writes Pan Yue.

Chilean power company Empresa Eléctrica Cochrane sold $430m of 7.5 year amortising notes on Wednesday as part of a bond and loan refinancing of project finance debt.

Emerging market issuers continued to enjoy solid market conditions this week with new mandates joining the pipeline and Abu Dhabi’s Mamoura executing a $3.5bn triple tranche trade.

State Grid Corporation of China is in talks with banks for a loan to support its $2.23bn acquisition of Sempra Energy’s Chilean business.

Brazilian petrochemicals firm Braskem clinched a $2.25bn dual tranche bond issue on Tuesday with bankers close to the deal claiming a negative new issue concession after US corporate buyers helped build a strong book.

Private Brazilian lender Banco Original will look to enter international bond markets with a $200m senior unsecured issue, according to rating agency reports.

Chilean power company Empresa Eléctrica Cochrane will meet bond investors this week as it looks to make a second attempt at becoming an international bond issuer.

Bankers and market analysts said there was no sign bond markets were seriously concerned about continued social unrest in Chile, as pulp and wood panel producer Celulosa Arauco y Constitución eased its way to a $1bn dual tranche new issue this week.

Braskem, the Brazilian petrochemicals firm, is visiting fixed-income investors in the US and Europe as it looks to take advantage of low rates to refinance existing debt.

Just four days after extending the expiry date on an exchange offer, Telecom Argentina has given up trying to persuade bondholders to swap existing 2021s for a combination of longer-dated bonds and cash.

Brazilian petrochemicals firm Braskem will look to issue new debt to finance a tender offer for three different short-dated bonds.

Brazilian port terminal owner Prumo Participações e Investimentos should be able to tighten pricing by quite some way on Tuesday after announcing initial price thoughts that offered a generous pick-up of to similarly rated Brazilian credits.