India’s Axis prices notes; TV Azteca, Iraq on tap; Venezuela, PDVSA continue to melt lower

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Aug. 1 – Emerging markets saw the launch and pricing of a dollar-denominated benchmark deal from India’s Axis Bank Ltd. on Tuesday. The Mumbai-based lender priced $500 million of 3% notes at a slight discount to par for a yield of Treasuries plus 130 basis points.

There was also initial price talk on a $350 million deal – seven-year notes being issued by Mexico’s TV Azteca SAB de CV in the high-8% to 9% area. That deal is expected to price on Wednesday, according to a syndicate source.

The Republic of Iraq’s $500 million offering of five-year notes was also expected to price on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s political, economic and humanitarian crisis remained a primary focus of concern, and the nation’s sovereign debt along with that of its state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA continued to melt lower.

Venezuela has debt interest payments of about $700 million due this month, and it has about $7 billion of principal and interest coming due in the next five months through December. The country has international reserves of about $10 billion, so in theory the country could make the payments. But given the country’s dire situation, many wonder if Maduro is willing to, and debt markets have been weighing the possibility of default.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.