One of the consequences of Citi’s withdrawal from local banking markets in Latin America is that the US bank is especially sensitive to any potential loss of market share in corporate debt financing in the affected countries.
Chief executives tell Euromoney that Citi – always a force to be reckoned with throughout Latin America – has been particularly competitive in winning mandates in the past year.
Debt capital markets league tables never tell the whole story, of course, but this year it feels like Citi really needed to claim first spot. And claim it it did, with 83 deals worth a combined $18.1 billion and a 12.7% market share.
It is Latin America’s best bank for financing not just for bonds but also for loans and project finance, as well as a strong performance in equity finance, thanks to some landmark transactions.
Citi’s team in the region, led by head of Latin American capital markets Chris Gilfond, likes to talk about the bank’s corporate financing capabilities being a ‘Swiss army knife’ because the bank certainly covers the full spectrum of deals. This ranges from leading conventional transactions to new environmental, social and governance structures (the sustainability-linked bond for CBC), from liability only (Pemex) to liability-with-new-money deals (Republic of Paraguay).
Citi can point to fresh sovereign benchmark deals (for the Republic of Chile and the Dominican Republic), local market deals (Cosan), project financing (Metro de Panama) and acquisition finance (Celeoredes). Its corporate bread and butter is spread between high-grade (America Movil) and high-yield (Cemex), and it also topped the league table for the number of inaugural bond transactions it worked on in the awards period.
Citi also had a strong year in equity financing, winning mandates for a range of prestigious deals that should help sustain its momentum in the segment – the Nubank and Raizen IPOs are cases in point.
