LatinFinance - January/February 2016 - 52

Also in Mexico, the DCM team managed
the $500 million reopening of the United
Mexican States' 2025 notes and a new
$2.5 billion 2046 bond. Mexico wins
LatinFinance's Sovereign Issuer of the Year
award.
Petrobras published its audited results
in April after months of delays, freeing
up Brazilian borrowers to tap the market.
Shortly after, BAML led the first deal from
a Brazilian corporate since November,
and one that took advantage of low rates
in the euro market: Votorantim Cimentos'
3.5% €500 million 2022 bond. Also in
Brazil, BAML led a one-day switch tender
for Oi. The Brazilian telecommunications
company used a 5.625% €600 million 2021
note to switch €173.7 million of existing
notes into the new bond and buy back
another €141.44 million.
Just before market went into turmoil over
a possible exit by Greece from the Eurozone
in June 2015, BAML led a transaction for
BRF. The €500 million issue was only the
second green bond from the region. The
Brazilian protein processor used proceeds
to buy back $750 million of existing notes
in a deal that has won LatinFinance's
Corporate Liability Management Deal of the
Year. Volkov says that green bond issuances,
proceeds from which a company must use
in environmental friendly operations, is a
trend that is likely to continue into 2016.
More broadly, Volkov says he is
optimistic on bond volumes next year,
and says the Andean region and liability
management could be particularly busy
areas. LF

EQUITY HOUSE

BANK OF AMERICAMERRILL LYNCH
A significant leap in this
year's league tables coupled
with a wide-reaching network makes this bank stand
out during a weak year for
Latin American equities
Completing seven transactions between
October 2014 and September 2015, Bank of
America-Merrill Lynch played an integral
role in the Latin American equity capital

52 LATINFINANCE.COM - January/February 2016

LatAm Offices: Buenos Aires,
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago,
Bogotá, Mexico City and Monterrey,
Mexico, Lima
Remarkable Deals: Rotoplas' IPO,
Vivendi's final block trade in Vivo
and Valid Soluções rule 476 equity
follow-on

markets during the awards period. The
bank came in third in Dealogic's ECM
league table, jumping from 10th place
during the same period a year earlier. The
bank executed about $1.3 billion of equityrelated deals, ahead of JPMorgan, Credit
Suisse, BTG Pactual and Morgan Stanley,
among others.
The success comes amid a tough
year for the region's equity issuers:
currency devaluations, falling economic
expectations, uncertainty over global
interest rates and political crises have made
executing deals difficult. Nonetheless,
some resilient issuers managed to price
big-ticket transactions, while others opted
for innovative new financing instruments
in order to overcome the market downturn
of 2015.
BAML was a lead bookrunner on
Mexican water facilities provider Rotoplas'
oversubscribed initial public offering
in December 2014, in which it raised
around $290 million in a deal driven
by international demand. Brazilian
telecommunications firm Telefônica Vivo's
equity follow-on in April was another
notable transaction for the bank. The stock
sale is LatinFinance's Follow-On Deal of the
Year.
BAML acted as a global coordinator and
stabilization agent on the 16.1 billion reais
($5.4 billion) offering, which comprised
121.7 million common shares at 38.47
reais and 236.8 million preferred shares

at 47 reais. Shortly after, in July, Vivendi
mandated BAML as sole placement agent
and bookrunner on an 876.7 million real
block trade of Vivo shares, pricing amid
economic and political volatility in Brazil.
"Vivo is a unique story that involved our
global platform incorporating our team in
Brazil, New York and Spain," Bruno Saraiva,
head of Brazil equity capital markets at
BAML says. "As sole placement agent, we
leveraged our cross-platform distribution
capabilities, to close the deal with investors
looking for a very liquid stock."
Despite this year's economic downturn
in emerging markets, the bank remains
steadfast in its approach to Latin America.
Relationships with key corporates in
Mexico and Brazil have been important
to its success, as has maintaining a strong
presence in the Andean region, Central
America and the Southern Cone, according
to William McArthur, head of equity capital
markets for Latin America.
"We have a good combination of
relationship bankers on the ground
supported by product and industry bankers
from our New York and London offices,"
McArthur says. "We have priced deals for
issuers from almost all regions across Latin
America."
BAML's pan-regional approach enabled
it to secure mandates on key deals in Latin
America. It was a bookrunner on Brazilian
outsourcing firm Atento's $237 million IPO
in October 2014, the first IPO in the country
for that year. The bank also coordinated
e-commerce firm CNova Brazil's $188
million IPO the same month.
BAML was the sole placement agent and
bookrunner on a $66 million block trade for
Brazilian pulp processor Fibria in May 2015,
and was global coordinator and bookrunner
on Brazilian payments processor Valid
Soluções $96.6 million follow-on in
September. Valid's follow-on offering was
the first deal to price under Brazil's new 476
restricted offering instruction for equities.
In addition to Rotoplas' IPO, the bank
took lead roles in other notable transactions
from Mexico. BAML was a global
coordinator on City Express Hoteles' $202
million follow-on in October 2014.
The bank has a strong pipeline already
for 2016. BAML is working on offerings for
Caixa and IRB Brasil Re, Banco Industrial in
Guatemala and IC Power in Peru. The four
IPOs could raise over $2 billion in combined
proceeds, according to public filings.
"Latin America continues to be a relevant
part of our America's business," co-head
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - January/February 2016
