Brazil

Banco ABC Brasil this week became the fourth Brazilian lender and the sixth issuer from the country in a month to launch a tender offer for existing debt as low dollar prices make bond buybacks attractive.

Two Brazilian lenders have concluded buybacks of subordinated notes, with Banco Votorantim easily passing its target and Banco BMG getting close.

Banco ABC Brasil has become the fourth Brazilian lender and sixth Brazilian issuer to launch a tender offer for existing debt in the last month as low dollar prices make bond buybacks attractive.

Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig Global Foods has hired Braskem’s popular head of investor relations to lead its investor relations and strategic planning departments.

Five Brazilian borrowers have tender offers underway on dollar bonds as those issuers with the cash to spare are taking advantage of rapid drops in secondary market prices.

It is said that if all forestry management was conducted like Sweden’s SCA, there would be no climate change problem. It is said, specifically, by SCA’s vice president for environmental affairs, Patrik Isaksson. “Yes,” he says cheerfully. “Let me explain that provocative statement.”

Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig wasted no time in putting the proceeds of its sale of UK subsidiary Moy Park to work, launching a tender offer for old dollar bonds the day after the deal was closed.

Bondholders have given Banrisul a stronger response to its tender offer for subordinated debt than they gave Brazilian peer Banco BMG in the early bird phase, but not as overwhelming a response as they gave Banco Votorantim, as Brazilian banks look to repurchase expensive bonds.

Another torrid week for Brazilian credit had investors predicting the sell-off in the country’s assets had further to run despite some names looking cheap at first glance.

Brazilian low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes is considering becoming the second Latin American company to issue EETCs (enhanced equipment trust certificates), a type of secured bond that has become fashionable among airline borrowers.

Brazilian telco giant Oi’s bonds dropped up to 14 points before recovering much of the lost ground as the company hired Rothschild to advise it on its debt profile but denied a restructuring was on the cards.

Troubled Brazilian shopping centre owner General Shopping Brasil has launched a heavily discounted tender of its 10% senior perpetual notes in an effort to reduce its dollar debt, although Fitch says that a debt restructuring is “likely to occur in the near future”.