LatinFinance - January/February 2015 - 70

owned by US mining group FreeportMcMoRan.
The loan was to finance an expansion of
the Cerro Verde mine, one of Peru's oldest.
Despite coming at a tough time for the
mining industry, demand pushed the size
of the deal above the initial amount sought,
from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion.
Twenty-two banks from four continents
jumped in. The deal won Best Loan and
Best Mining Financing in LatinFinance's
2014 Infrastructure Finance awards.
"The group of participating institutions
was truly diverse," says Monica Macia,
head of Latin American syndicated loans
at HSBC, speaking of the Cerro Verde deal.
"The market hadn't seen such a large deal
in Peru in a long time. It was really exciting
to do that transaction."
MONICA MACIA, HSBC

"THE MARKET HADN'T
SEEN SUCH A LARGE
DEAL IN PERU IN A
LONG TIME. IT WAS REALLY EXCITING TO DO
THAT TRANSACTION"
HSBC also led a 30 billion peso ($2.2
billion) local currency senior unsecured
term loan to Mexican state-owned oil and
gas company Pemex in September.
"Pemex definitely knows the syndicated
loan market in dollars, so what's interesting
about this deal is that it was the first widely
syndicated loan in pesos for Pemex, and it
was a 10-year," says Macia.
"Usually, for a 10-year tenor, there is a
type of structure, such as project finance.
But this was a corporate loan to Pemex in
pesos."
One of the bank's deals early in 2014 took
Banco do Brasil into the syndicated loan
market for the first time in the state-owned
bank's 206-year history, with a $1 billion
three- and four-year senior unsecured
loan, paying 135 basis points and 150 basis
points over Libor, respectively. "I think it
was important to close the deal, garnering
demand from new banks in addition to
relationship banks," Macia says. "It was
something that Banco do Brasil wanted to
do."
HSBC also brought Mexican movie
theater chain Cinemex into the loan market
with a senior unsecured five-year, 2 billion

70 LATINFINANCE.COM - January/February 2015

peso loan. HSBC was sole lead arranger and
bookrunner on the deal.
Among HSBC's more complex mandates
was a $175 million, one-year bridge loan to
Grupo México in October that preceded a
$275 million, five-year structured deal in
July, secured against oil platforms.
HSBC also arranged a $1.3 billion, oneyear backstop bridge loan and acquisition
facility for Colombian oil and gas company
Pacific Rubiales in November, followed by a
$250 million, three-year senior unsecured
loan for the same client in August.
"The challenge was timing," Macia says
of the Pacific Rubiales deal. "We had to be
very quick to put the money in front, and
we had to be sure that we were comfortable
with the takeout." LF

running. Citi was involved in a number of
transactions taking Deals of the Year Awards
and was a close contender (and at the top of
the league tables) for the bond, equity, M&A
and loan house of the year awards.
In bonds, Citi continued to excel at
bringing rare or first time borrowers to
the market. The Republic of Ecuador's
$2 billion return to the debt market -
Sovereign Bond of the Year - was one of
the starkest examples. But Citi's debt team
had strong reach across the spectrum
of issuers, working on deals from high
yield corporates such as Columbus
International, to structured deals like GNL
Quintero's secured bonds. The institution
was involved in the Corporate High-Yield
Bond of the Year - Cemex's dual-tranche
sale of a euro and dollar bond in March
2014 - and the Corporate High-Grade Bond
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
of the Year - a $2.15 billion triple-tranche
note from Coca-Cola Femsa.
The bank remains high in the syndicated
loan league tables, being involved in loans
to a broad range of borrowers. It was a
lead on Cerro Verde's five-year term loan,
a $1.8 billion facility that was Best Mining
Financing and Best Loan in LatinFinance's
2014 Infrastructure Finance Awards. The
bank led a dual tranche loan in dollars
and pesos for Mexico's Cinepolis, and was
join lead arranger, bookrunner and global
coordinator on Banco Itaú's $1.7 billion
three-year loan.
The award for Investment Bank of the Year
Citi maintained a strong presence in the
is intended to recognize an institution that
equity markets on deals from a range of
has performed strongly across the spectrum
jurisdictions. It had a joint bookrunner role
of products for companies, banks and
on Grupo Aval's initial public offering on
sovereigns seeking to attract new capital.
the New York Stock Exchange in September
This year, Citi knocked JPMorgan out
- LatinFinance's IPO of the Year - and
of the spot it had held for three years
worked on real estate deals
from Mexico, Avianca's
At the top
November 2013 IPO and
LatAm and Caribbean investment banking revenue ranking
Banco de Chile's follow-on.
Oct 2013-Sep 2014
Oct 2012-Sep 2013
In M&A, Citi advised
Rank Bank
% share Rank
% share
MMG on its acquisition
1
Citi
8.8
4
7.6
of the Las Bambas mine
in Peru, a $5.85 billion
2
Itaú BBA
8.0
5
7.2
acquisition. The purchase
3
Credit Suisse
7.6
1
8.6
takes this year's accolade
4
BofA Merrill Lynch
6.9
6
6.6
for Cross-Border M&A deal
of the Year.
5
JPMorgan
6.2
2
8.2
The award comes in
6
HSBC
5.8
10
4.0
spite of a tumultuous
7
BTG Pactual
4.8
3
7.7
year for Citi's Mexico
8
BBVA
4.7
12
3.2
operations, marked by
an investigation into an
9
Deutsche Bank
4.5
11
3.5
alleged fraud in loans
10
Goldman Sachs
4.1
14
2.1
from Banamex to Pemex
Source: Dealogic
supplier Oceanografía.

Citi

An impressive performance across asset classes
for Latin American clients
puts this investment bank
ahead of the pack
http://www.LATINFINANCE.COM
LatinFinance - January/February 2015

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