Millicom prices upsized $750 million deal; Emirates NBD up in secondary; Ghana tightens

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, March 14 – Millicom International Cellular SA, which operates in Latin America and Africa, priced an upsized $750 million issue of 10-year senior notes at par to yield 6¼%, and Banco do Brasil SA was also in the market on Thursday with a $750 million five-year deal.

The telecom company’s notes priced tight to yield guidance in the area of 6 3/8% and initial price talk of 6½% area. In the fall, Millicom priced a $500 million eight-year note at par to yield 6 5/8%.

Goldman Sachs International and JPMorgan were global coordinators and bookrunners of the Millicom notes with BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Scotia also acting as bookrunners.

The telecom company is based in Luxembourg.

Banco do Brasil SA also priced $750 million of five-year senior notes at par on Wednesday to yield 4¾%. The Brazil-based lender followed on the heels Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s mega $3 billion of notes deal that priced on Wednesday. Petrobras is a fellow state-run entity.

The Banco do Brasil notes were sold via joint bookrunners BB Securities, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered Bank and Itau Unibanco Holdings and sold tight to initial talk in the area of 5%.

The tight pricing may encourage other issuers that have been sitting on the sidelines to move forward with deals. Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA was also heard to be in shopping a deal, but Prospect News’ could not confirm that prior to its deadline.

Elsewhere, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC’s newly priced 6 1/8% perpetual securities were higher in trade on Thursday after the Dubai lender priced $1 billion of the tier 1 debt that is non-callable for six years.

The Emirates NBD perpetuals were quoted 100.45 bid, 100.65 offered on Thursday after they priced at par on Wednesday.

Ghana’s bonds tightened by 12 basis point to 14 bps, and the spectrum of African debt was slightly tighter on the heels of news that the republic is in the market for a proposed U.S. dollar-denominated benchmark of medium-term duration as well as offers to purchase existing bonds.

African Development Bank announced that it plans to price a euro-denominated offering of 10-year notes. And EM-focused Kosmos Energy Ltd. jumped into the market with the expectation of pricing a $600 million offering of seven-year non-call three, senior notes (expected ratings BB-/BB), according to market sources.

Initial guidance has the offering coming with a yield in the 7% area, a bond trader said.

The Dallas-based independent oil and gas exploration and production company has operations in Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mauritania, Senegal, Suriname, Ivory Coast, Namibia and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, central & Eastern Europe-focused PPF Arena 1 BV has mandated banks to market an offering of euro-denominated notes of four- to six-years duration, according to market sources.

HSBC and Societe Generale CIB were selected as global coordinators and bookrunners, with Bank of China, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, Erste Group, ING, PPF Bank and UniCredit also acting as bookrunners.

The Regulation S euro notes will mark the company’s debut in the international bond market.

The Netherlands-based PPF Arena is the parent company of telecommunications infrastructure operators O2 Czech Republic, CETIN and Telenor CEE.

And in Asia, Sri Lanka issued $1.4 billion 7.85% bonds due 2029 on Thursday under Rule 144A and Regulation S via bookrunners BOCI Asia Ltd., Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, HSBC Ltd., J.P. Morgan Securities plc, SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Ltd. and Standard Chartered Bank.

Paul Harris contributed to this report.

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