Brazil’s Light edges up; Canacol talks deal; Sixsigma, Elering price; Huawei pulls deal

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, April 26 – Light SA’s newly priced 7¼% five-year notes edged up slightly by about ¼ point in the early going on Thursday after the Rio de Janeiro-based electric utility priced $600 million of the notes at 99.485. The issuers were Light Servicios de Electricidade SA and Light Energia SA.

The deal was viewed as having done pretty well having attracted demand given that it is a pretty strong retail oriented company.

Two other deals also priced with Light on Wednesday including Gilex Holding Sarl’s $300 million of five-year notes, priced at par to yield 8½%, and InRetail Pharma SA’s $400 million of 5 3/8% five-year notes, which priced at 99.676.

The trio of Latin America deals was followed up with more pricings for the region on Thursday. Mexico’s Sixsigma Networks Mexico SA de CV (KIO Networks) priced $300 million of seven-year notes at par to yield 7½%, according to a syndicate source.

The notes are non-callable for three years.

Canacol Energy Ltd. was also thought to be pricing on Thursday with initial price talk for a dollar offering of medium-term notes putting yield at 7½%.

“Everything is still coming with pretty big concessions,” a New York-based market source said, adding that most of the companies pricing are the better quality ones including Canacol, Light and Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA, a Buenos Aires-based natural gas distributor. Meanwhile, six deals still remain on the forward calendar.

“Not everyone is as fantastic as people think that they are,” the source said. Nevertheless, the Latin America corporate space has been pretty resilient. The sovereign space has been quieter as three key presidential elections loom including those for Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.

The simple fact is that most sovereigns “don’t need to do a lot and with the three big elections those sovereigns are unlikely to be coming to the market,” the source said.

Brazil, which still has six months to go before its presidential elections, is battling a lot of uncertainty because there is “a total lack of clarity” regarding who may step into power.

Meanwhile, the Argentina sovereign is steering clear of the market for the time being, with provincial government eschewing the international markets in favor of local currency deals, after saturation of the international space early in the year.

“They did a lot and swamped the market,” the market source said.

Elsewhere in emerging markets on Thursday, Turkiye Ihracat Kredi Bankasi AS (Turk Eximbank) launched $500 million of six-year notes to yield mid-swaps plus 330 basis points on Thursday.

The Rule 144A and Regulation S notes were being marketed by Citigroup, ING, Mizuho Securities, MUFG, SMBC Nikko and Standard Chartered.

Ankara, Turkey-based Turk Eximbank is an export credit agency.

Also Estonia’s Elering AS priced €225 million 7/8% five-year notes on Thursday at 99.907 to yield 0.89%. The Regulation S-only notes were sold via J.P. Morgan Securities plc and Danske Bank AS.

Based in Tallinn, Elering is the sovereign-owned operator of the national electricity grid.

In local currencies, Development Bank of Kazakhstan guided an offering of up to KZT 100 billion of five-year notes (expected ratings: Baa3//BBB-) to yield 9 3/8% to 9½%, according to a syndicate source on Thursday. Earlier talk on the notes had been for yield in the mid-9% range.

The Rule 144A and Regulation S notes are being sold by joint lead managers and bookrunners Kazkommerts Securities, MUFG, Societe Generale CIB (billing and delivery) and VTB Capital.

The issuer is based in Astana, Kazakhstan.

And New Delhi-based real estate developer Ashiana Housing Ltd. priced Rs. 1 billion of 10.15% five-year secured redeemable non-convertible debentures that will be listed on the BSE Ltd. The issue was smaller than the Rs.2.5 billion of debt securities originally talked.

Meanwhile the day saw a casualty as the planned Huawei Investment & Holding Co. Ltd. deal of five-year euro-denominated notes was pulled by the China cellular company after it launched on Wednesday.

It was speculated that the deal was pulled after the company learned of a U.S. Justice Department probe regarding the company’s possible violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal.

© 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.