The retrenchment that Citi has made in the retail markets of central America has clearly not impacted its dominance of corporate and investment banking in the region. It wins the award for central America’s best investment bank again this year.
Led in the region by Pablo del Valle, cluster head for central America and the Caribbean, the bank claimed an impressive range of mandates this year, dominated by debt capital markets.
In Costa Rica, Citi led on $400 million of sustainability-linked notes for Liberty Costa Rica, closing the deal with a 10.875% coupon – the first Costa Rican private corporate bond in the international markets. Citi’s ability to combine an inaugural bond offering with sustainability elements shows that such environmental, social and governance-led fixed income deals can bring high-yield companies in the region to new international investors.
Other important deals include the liability-management exercise for the Dominican Republic, with fresh issuance paying for the retirement of higher-yielding bonds.
In El Salvador, Citi’s team raised $225 million for Millicom El Salvador and Nicaragua for capex and intercompany debt finance.
In Panama, Citi was the sole lead arranger for a 20-year, $200 million issue for development bank CAF. It was also mandated lead arranger for a $120 million financing through a syndicated senior unsecured term loan facility for Multibank.
In Guatemala, Citi led on Cementos Progreso’s acquisition of Cemex assets in El Salvador and Costa Rica. This was the largest M&A transaction in central America during 2022. It represented a key stepping-stone for Cementos Progreso in its aim to strengthen its position in the region by operating in seven different countries.
The mix of digital service, the tactical use of balance sheet and access to expert advisory teams makes Citi’s investment banking franchise the best in central America
While transaction flow was down in the year, Citi continued to focus on its corporate and transaction services businesses throughout the region. The bank added functionality to its digitized corporate services platform, expanding cash management. The bank says it has heavily modernized its processes and services, attaining a 90% onboarding rate for products and services in this area. This increases speed for clients and efficiencies for Citi.
The mix of digital service, the tactical use of balance sheet and access to expert advisory teams makes Citi’s investment banking franchise the best in central America. The bank is not only on the ground in more places than any of its competitors, but its global reach outside the region is attractive to trade-focused companies in particular, with Citi offering foreign exchange services in 125 global currencies.
