Central America

América Móvil, the Mexican telecommunications company controlled by Carlos Slim, had to cheapen the terms of its €2.2bn bond exchangeable into shares in Dutch telco KPN, but still achieved a remarkably cheap refinancing of a non-core stake.

Petrochemicals producer Alpek, which is owned by major Mexican conglomerate Grupo Alfa, will buy back almost half of its $650m of 4.5% 2022s after wrapping a tender offer on Tuesday.

Better than expected fiscal data from Mexico has led Bank of America analysts to conclude that the country’s fiscal metrics “could compare favourably to peers for longer” and upgrade their recommendation on the sovereign’s external debt from underweight to market weight.

Mexico petrochemical company Alpek could announce a new 10 year note as soon as Thursday, and investors expect the issuer to receive strong demand amid a quiet Latin America primary market.

Mexican petrochemicals producer Alpek, which lost one of its investment grade ratings for the first time last September, was holding calls with fixed income investors this week ahead of a proposed liability management exercise that would push its average debt maturity from 4.4 years to seven years.

Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca’s bonds fell sharply in secondary markets this week after the company missed a coupon payment on its international bonds. But the decision to stay current on, and prepay, a domestic bond left some bondholders recalling previous battles with Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexico’s third richest man and the owner of the broadcaster.

TV Azteca, the broadcaster owned by Mexico’s third richest man Ricardo Salinas Pliego, missed a coupon payment on a $400m bond on Tuesday, leaving some concerned about the implications for other Grupo Salinas-controlled bond issuers.

A highly diversified order book allowed the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) to tighten pricing on its first ever benchmark social bond on Wednesday, with the multilateral lender raising $500m of five-year money.

Mexican quasi-sovereign Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) offered little to no concession on its first 144A/Reg S deal since 2016 on Tuesday, attracting a broad range of investors to an order book that peaked above $10bn.

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) is holding investor calls until Tuesday as it looks to sell a debut social bond in dollars.

Mexican financing and leasing company Unifin Financiera returned to bond markets on Monday for the first time in 18 months, garnering sufficient demand to push the yield on its new $400m eight year into single digits.

Credit Suisse has tapped a rival bank to fill a spot on its emerging markets syndicate desk in New York, GlobalCapital understands.