Brazil

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”.

DCM bankers covering Brazil are hopeful that liability management exercises from financial institutions may provide them with something to do in the coming weeks as the new issue market suffers depressed volumes.

Buy and sell side credit traders expressed disappointment on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve elected to keep interest rates on hold.

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”.

Banco do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Banrisul) has become the third Brazilian lender to launch a tender offer for existing debt as bond prices in the country hit lows.

The downgrade of Brazil by Standard & Poor’s into sub-investment grade territory on Wednesday had been seen as inevitable for nearly two months. But when it came, the downgrade was as brutal as it could have been.

Brazil’s downgrade to junk will come as little surprise to market observers, given the increasingly bearish sentiment seen in Brazilian sovereign bonds.