Cometa, EP Infrastructure price as other energy names eye deals; Barclays Africa trades

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, April 19 – A flurry of companies tied to the energy sector stepped up to price new issues in the emerging markets space on Thursday.

Cometa Energia SA de CV priced $860 million of notes due 2035 at par to yield 6 3/8%. The deal was sold by joint bookrunners J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Scotiabank under Rule 144A and Regulation S to fund a power project in Mexico.

Cometa, a subsidiary of Actis GP LLP, is buying a portfolio of assets currently owned by InterGen NV.

A transmission and distribution company serving mostly the Slovak and Czech Republics, EP Infrastructure, priced €750 million of 1.659% six-year notes at par to yield mid-swaps plus 110 basis points on Thursday.

Pricing came at the tight end of guidance for a yield of mid-swaps plus 110 bps to 115 bps, which was tightened from earlier talk of 125 bps to 130 bps.

Meanwhile, Transportadora de Gas Internacional SA continued to roadshow an offering of 10-year notes rated BBB by S&P’s. The deal for the Colombia-based natural gas distribution company was talked at more than $500 million in size.

And Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA of Buenos Aires, another natural gas player, was expected to price its five-, seven- or 10-year notes next week. The proposed issuance was assigned a B+ rating by S&P.

The deals coincide with a rise in crude oil and other commodities that have propped up the stocks of energy and mining companies. On Wednesday, oil prices reached a three-year high after U.S. government data showed stockpiles were drawn down more than analysts were expecting. Early Thursday, light sweet crude for May delivery continued to climb reaching as high as $69.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before pulling back slightly to end at $68.22, which was lower on the day by 25 cents, or 0.4%. Brent crude oil was up 0.5% at $73.84 per barrel, which marked the first time in four years that the benchmark passed $74.00.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that crude stockpiles fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended April 13. Gasoline inventories fell by three million barrels and distillate inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels.

Elsewhere, Barclays Africa Group Ltd.’s new 6¼% tier 2 notes due 2028 were quoted at 99.7 bid 100 offered, during the London session after the issuer, whose main operating group is Absa Bank Ltd., priced $400 million of the subordinated notes at par. The notes are non-callable for five years.

Pricing came tight to guidance of 6 3/8% to 6½%, which was tightened from initial talk at 6 5/8%.

ABSA Bank, Barclays, Citigroup and HSBC were bookrunners of the Regulation S notes.

The new securities are to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Barclays Africa followed on the heels of fellow South African lender FirstRand Bank Ltd. that met with strong demand for its 6¼% tier 2 notes, which priced on Monday at a reoffered 99.472.

In addition, InRetail Pharma SA of Peru selected banks and scheduled a roadshow for a benchmark-sized offering of medium-term notes.

The notes follow closing on the heels of InRetail Shopping Malls, a subsidiary of InRetail Real Estate, that priced $350 million of 5¾% notes due 2028 at par at the end of March.

The InRetail Pharma deal is being marketed by Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Citigroup. Roadshow meetings on three continents, South America, North America and Europe, are expected to wrap up next Wednesday.

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