LatinFinance - July 2013 - 26

Seize the moment
G

rab it while you can. If a
single message emerged from
LatinFinance’s interviews with the
chief financial officers of Latin America’s
leading corporates about their capital
markets strategy, that would perhaps be it.
As volatility picks up across the capital
markets, the companies recognized over
the following pages stand out for their
level of preparedness to meet emerging
challenges. Mexico’s Fibra Uno tapped
into growing confidence in its asset class
to sell further equity; América Móvil took
advantage of strong markets to pioneer
a new debt instrument to span local
and global issuance; drinks producer

As they stare into a choppy horizon, the top Latin companies in the capital
markets show the importance of grabbing opportunities when they arise
AmBev and bottlers Arca Continental
and Coca-Cola Femsa snapped up other
companies when they saw good deals;
and, Cemex, Digicel and Odebrecht all
tackled outstanding debt with liability
management exercises when financing
rates fell, locking in cheap funding for the
long-term.
The result is that these companies are
better placed to ride out growing market
volatility.

LatinFinance has picked out the
companies named in these pages as the
Best Corporates in the Capital Markets.
They were selected following a rigorous
multi-step process, which considered
activity in the year to March 31 and took
into account financial and transaction
data. The final judgment by LatinFinance
editors also incorporated for the first time
results of an open vote in each category by
market participants. LF

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Corporate with the best equity market strategy

Fibra Uno

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First mover
I

t’s an asset class that inspired little
confidence when it was first launched.
But Mexican infrastructure and real
estate trusts (Fideicomiso de Bienes Raíces,
or Fibras) smashed early expectations,
having turned out instead to be highreturning investment vehicles.
Fibra Uno, the first and largest,
is widely regarded as the star of the
asset class. It has hit the equity markets
multiple times to raise fresh funds to grow
its portfolio of industrial, corporate and
office properties.

26 LatinFinance July 2013

Its two follow-ons were impressively
bid. Its second, in January, was the first
such Mexican transaction ever to use a
hot-issue over-allotment option, meaning
it chose to increase the size of the deal by
20% in light of the heavy demand.
Part of its success is down to an
improving investor perception of Mexico
and its growth potential – something that
has boosted all Fibras.
The real estate trust, founded by a
group of investors led by the El-Mann
family, one of Mexico’s largest real estate

Eneas de Troya

Mexican real estate trusts were once met with a lukewarm reception, but a
number of successful deals by the first and largest have changed that

Fibra Uno: reaching high
LatinFinance - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - July 2013
