Odebrecht Sells $500 Million of 10-Year Bonds Abroad (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

By Veronica Espinosa

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Construtora Norberto Odebrecht SA, a Brazilian construction and engineering company, sold $500 million of 10-year bonds after boosting the size of the offering.

The company sold the bonds to yield 3.82 percentage points above U.S. Treasuries, according to Bloomberg data. Odebrecht initially planned to sell $300 million of the notes, according to a person familiar with the transaction. HSBC Holdings Plc, Banco Santander SA and BB Securities arranged the sale of the notes, which are callable in five years, said the person, who declined to be identified because he’s not allowed to speak publicly.

Brazilian companies are tapping international credit markets as a recovery in Latin America’s biggest economy boosts demand for the securities. Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s largest lender, sold $1.5 billion of perpetual bonds in the bank’s biggest debt issue yesterday. Banco Panamericano SA, a Brazilian bank controlled by media magnate Silvio Santos, also plans to sell bonds this week.

Odebrecht sold $200 million of five-year bonds in international credit markets in April. The yield on the 9.625 percent notes due in 2014 has tumbled to 5.17 percent from 9.72 percent on April 6, according to Bloomberg data.

To contact the reporters on this story: Veronica Navarro Espinosa in New York at vespinosa@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 14, 2009 17:45 EDT"