Banco do Brasil Sells $1 Billion of Bonds Overseas
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest bank, sold $1 billion of bonds in its second international dollar debt sale in three months.
The Brasilia-based bank issued $500 million of 10-year dollar bonds to yield about 2.38 percentage points above U.S. Treasuries and $500 million of five-year bonds to yield 2.2 percentage points more than Treasuries, according to Bloomberg data.
Banco do Brasil returned to the market after demand topped $14 billion for a bond sale in October, Chief Financial Officer Ivan de Souza Monteiro said in an interview last month. Today’s sale follows overseas debt issues by Banco Votorantim SA, Banco Industrial e Comercial SA and state development bank BNDES this month, part of an effort to boost lending in Latin America’s biggest economy.
“Brazilian banks have been very aggressive lending money in the local market,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Eduardo Suarez, who is based in Toronto. “It’s a good time to get long- term financing to maintain their lending activity.”
Loan growth for Banco do Brasil and the banking industry will exceed 20 percent this year as the rebound in the country’s economy prompts companies and consumers to increase borrowing, Monteiro said.
The 8.5 percent perpetual bonds the bank sold in October yield about 3.83 percentage points over U.S. Treasuries due 2019, compared with an issue spread of 5.19 percentage points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Banco do Brasil’s sale today is part of a push by emerging- market companies and governments to lock in lower borrowing costs before central banks begin raising interest rates.
Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., BB Securities and Banco Votorantim arranged today’s transaction.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lester Pimentel at lpimentel1@bloomberg.net; Veronica Navarro Espinosa in New York at vespinosa@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 15, 2010 14:59 EST"
About Me
- Waldemar Jezler
- For over 30 years, Brazilian-American investment banker Waldemar Jezler has worked in the finance sector. Jezler earned his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of São Paulo in Brazil and then went on to attend Harvard Business School for his MBA. While at Harvard, Jezler was highly involved in extracurricular activities, including a term as President of the Ibero American Club.