The Ps22 billion ($1.2 billion) America Movil local-currency bond – underwritten by BBVA, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Santander that the firm sold on June 27 – exhibited many of the trends seen in Latin America's debt capital markets this year.
It was local currency – clearly a theme when around $13 billion-equivalent was issued from Latin American issuers in the international markets in the first half of this year.
It was over-subscribed – and saw solid ‘traditional’ execution, where the underwriters tightened primary pricing throughout the marketing phase, and it continued to narrow in the secondary market.
It was a Mexican issuance – the US neighbour being the standout performer from the region.
And, of course, it had a sustainable element.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Local interest
First, local currency.
“If you look at it from a spread basis, where issuers can fund in dollars, we saw the interests of issuers and investors matching – particularly in the Mexican peso and Chilean peso – which are great examples of being able to combine local and international demand and create a very attractive liability,” says Alexei Remizov, head of Latin America DCM at HSBC.
The
