Chile

Scotiabank has hired a new head of syndication in New York, GlobalCapital understands.

Latin American oil and gas company GeoPark will hold investor calls until Monday next week as it prepares to reopen a 2027 bond sold last year in order to partially finance a tender offer for up to $255m of its of $425m of 6.5% 2024s.

Chilean car seller Automotores Gildemeister is seeking bondholder permission for a restructuring that would see senior secured creditors receive all the company’s equity and a combination of secured and unsecured bonds. Unsecured bondholders — who will be offered a far more meagre recovery — have hired legal advisors.

Latin American oil and gas company GeoPark may return to bond markets in the near future as it looks to finance a tender offer for up to $255m of its $425m of 6.5% senior unsecured 2024s.

Automotores Gildemeister, the distributor of Hyundai cars in Chile and other South American countries, is set to file for bankruptcy with the support of its bondholders after missing a coupon payment on its $510m senior secured 7.5% 2025s on April 1. The process is set to reduce the company’s debt by $200m, said the issuer

Empresas CMPC, the Chilean pulp and paper producer, priced a sustainability-linked bond inside its curve on Wednesday, leaving no doubt that Latin American issuers can still garner a material pricing benefit from ESG debt, even as emerging market bonds feel the pressure from US Treasury volatility.

Chile’s head of international finance said that the sovereign’s debut in the Formosa bond market this week was a natural continuation of the diversification of its funding sources, as Asian investors bought more than half of the government’s $1.5bn 32-year sustainable bond. The government has now issued green, social and sustainable notes in international markets.

Just over two months after it last issued internationally, Chile returned to primary markets on Tuesday with a sustainable Formosa bond. The deal was the second ever Formosa from a Latin American sovereign and comes as Chile makes efforts to diversify its funding sources.

Empresas CMPC, the Chilean pulp and paper producer, began investor meetings on Monday ahead of a proposed sustainability-linked bond (SLB) that investors say is likely to attract strong demand as long as the volatility seen in rates market on Monday does not worsen.

Chilean cable company VTR brought life to the Latin America primary bond market on Wednesday, but the company was unable to tighten its new senior-secured eight-year deal beyond guidance as markets are remaining functional but cautious in the face of rising US Treasury yields, said bankers.

Banco Santander Chile sold its first ESG-themed bond on Tuesday, raising $50m in a private placement with a Japanese investor to finance small and medium sized enterprises led by women.

Emerging markets issuers across CEEMEA and Latin America once again triumphed in primary bond markets this week, with several sovereigns and corporates notching record low costs of funding. But there are signs that the direction of US rates is playing on investors’ minds, write Mariam Meskin and Oliver West.