Argentina

Argentine gas pipeline operator Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) became the latest Latin American corporate to join the new issue pipeline on Thursday, as bankers predict market conditions will become friendlier.

After international investors placed nearly $450m-equivalent of orders for the Province of Buenos Aires’ peso-denominated floater last week, bankers and investors said that issuers in the country may favour local currency over dollars in coming weeks.

The Province of Buenos Aires was ready to price a Euroclear local law peso floater on Thursday evening as investors showed appetite for Argentina’s positive real interest rates despite volatility in broader markets.

Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest bread maker, will begin meeting fixed income investors on Thursday as it plans a subordinated perpetual hybrid bond, just after Standard & Poor’s said the company was deleveraging more slowly than expected.

Argentina’s largest province is planning to issue around $496m of peso-denominated notes this week and will look to sell a portion of the bonds to international investors.

Two Latin American companies raised dollar funding this week while two stayed on the sidelines as bankers said broader market conditions affected appetite in the region.

The board of Transportadora de Gas del Norte (TGN), the Argentine gas provider, has approved a bond shelf of up to $600m as the company weighs up a potential debut international bond, it said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Latin American bond bankers are presenting unusual structures to potential buyers, even as markets remain weak and more straightforward, well-known credits are managing only modestly successful deal execution.

AT&T’s Latin American subsidiary began investor meetings on Wednesday ahead of an international bond debut that may include an Argentine peso tranche.

Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday that Vrio Corp, AT&T’s Latin American subsidiary, was planning a $1.5bn international bond issue half denominated in Argentine pesos.

The largest dairy company in Argentina is looking at calling its existing 2021s in July after filing a new debt shelf, according to market sources in Buenos Aires.

The largest dairy company in Argentina is looking at calling its existing 2021s in July after filing a new debt shelf, according to market sources in Buenos Aires.