Mexico

Citi picks odd time for a Mexican standoff

26 Jan 2022

The U.S. banking giant’s plan to divest $44 bln of assets under its Banamex banner has long been on investors’ wish lists. But in finding a buyer, Citi will have to navigate Mexico’s protectionist streak, and the fact that cross-border banking has fallen out of fashion.

Guest view: Consider a debt for vaccines program

9 Mar 2021

Such plans may help reduce currency mismatches in jab distribution, reduce the need for “new money” and avoid overloading balance sheets with unsustainable pre-existing debt. Epidemiologist Cristina Valencia and banker William Rhodes argue for piloting the idea in Latin America.

Carlos Slim’s KPN cash call includes buyout cover

24 Feb 2021

The Mexican mogul raised 2.1 bln euros from negative-yield bonds that can flip into a 16% stake in the Dutch telecom operator. If KPN treads water, Slim can keep his stock and repay less than he borrowed. If it’s snapped up by a predator, he still gets some of the upside.

Guest view: Latin America has a Covid-19 cash gap

16 Oct 2020

Economic weakness has helped make the region’s health crisis one of the world’s worst, write former Citibank Chairman William Rhodes and epidemiologist Cristina Valencia. Even if a vaccine arrives, the recovery will demand more direct funding from the international community.

Verizon $6 bln deal marks return to wheelhouse

14 Sep 2020

The U.S. telecoms group is buying Tracfone, a prepaid cellphone business. Past media acquisitions like Yahoo have not panned out. Boss Hans Vestberg is steering the $257 bln Verizon back toward what it knows best. It’s a different course from the one chosen by rival AT&T.

Mexico’s stingy populist is haunted by history

2 Jul 2020

The president, known as AMLO, is the rare left-winger queasy about budget deficits, even in the face of a pandemic. This may be because of his nostalgia for the country’s mid-century boom, which was undone by debt-fueled spending. He has learned the wrong lessons from the past.

Corona Capital: Pemex, Bond liquidity

20 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pemex becomes world’s chunkiest fallen angel, and bond liquidity gets a needed boost.

Corona Capital: Oil cheerleading, Mortgaging Ford

13 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. and Saudi energy ministers agree on pumping up oil, Ford may use an old trick to raise new capital.

Mexico cans Corona plant in unaffordable sideshow

24 Mar 2020

The country’s president held a referendum that nixed Constellation Brands’ massive brewery, as the nation faces a manufacturing pullback, rock-bottom oil prices, and a weak peso. Rigid nationalist, anti-corporate politics can be costly in normal times – let alone in a crisis.

Viewsroom: U.S. politicians call a truce for trade

12 Dec 2019

House democrats are backing Trump’s deal with Canada and Mexico even as they charge the president with impeachment. A looming deadline heaping more tariffs on Chinese imports could be kicked down the road, too. The chances of bipartisan support elsewhere, though, are slim.

NAFTA 2.0 deal is only opening act for China trade

10 Dec 2019

The White House deserves credit for winning over U.S. Democrats on a revised pact with Canada and Mexico. But investors are waiting for the headliner: an agreement with the People’s Republic as new tariffs loom. Rising tensions with Europe add to the unfolding drama.

Mexico slowdown puts president in fiscal bind

25 Nov 2019

Lopez Obrador wants to increase welfare spending without sacrificing budget targets. That’s now unlikely after a recent recession and probable slow growth in 2020. But avoiding a budget deficit could put him at odds with the populism he espouses, and which brought him to power.

Pemex debt riddle stumps Mexican president

15 Oct 2019

The IMF has panned the isolationist approach AMLO, as he's known, is taking. His budget relies on the state oil giant producing cash, but Pemex needs all the pesos and dollars it can get to boost production and reduce $102 bln of debt. Without private investment, it can't add up.

Mexico truce is sad episode in trade reality show

10 Jun 2019

U.S. President Trump scrapped planned import taxes after Mexico pledged more action on migrant crossings – something it had already offered to do. It reinforces the illusion that levies are a potent way to tackle non-trade issues, and sets the scene for more unproductive drama.

Canada is caught in America’s trade-war crossfire

5 Jun 2019

President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Mexico puts at risk the new version of the three-way NAFTA trade deal. Canada’s arrest of Huawei’s CFO at America’s request upset China. And its uranium exports may now face levies, too. Ottawa can’t catch a break.

Mexico tariffs may lead to more bills for America

4 Jun 2019

The southern neighbor hopes to avoid import taxes by doing more to stop migrant crossings. But a weak economy and lower oil revenue have already forced Mexico to cut its 2019 budget. President Donald Trump may need to stump up even more aid to help the country meet his demands.

Santander’s $2.9 bln Mexico bid is easy to refuse

12 Apr 2019

The Spanish lender wants to swap the 25 pct of its Latin American unit it does not own for shares in the group. Despite a 14 pct premium, the offer is a lower multiple of book value than when Santander listed it in 2012. Given robust profitability, Mexican investors can hold out.

Carlos Slim has upper hand in Spain property fight

14 Mar 2019

Hedge fund Polygon reckons Realia, controlled by the Mexican tycoon, uses lowball land valuations and raised capital it doesn’t need. The 800 mln euro company’s response is unconvincing. Yet unless regulators force it to change, Slim could increase his stake at a lowball price.

Brazil will get energy mostly right; Mexico won’t

28 Dec 2018

New regimes of opposing ideologies in Latam’s two biggest economies will wrestle with balancing 1970s-style nationalism against the need to open up to foreign and private capital to exploit their oil and gas resources. Brazil’s far-right president-elect has the better prospects.

NAFTA 2.0 signing is party for protectionism

30 Nov 2018

America, Canada and Mexico cheered their new, if little-changed, trilateral pact. But U.S. officials also noted that steel and aluminum tariffs remain. And the White House wants to pick which carmakers are subject to import duties. Taxing trade is in full swing.