Investments
InvestmentsUruguay completes investment-grade ‘triple crown’ from the three big credit rating agencies
Uruguay finally managed on Thursday to achieve investment grade debt rating from the three major agencies when Fitch raised the country’s rating to BBB-minus from BB-plus, citing economic resilience as well as the political and social stability of the country, squeezed between Brazil and Argentina.
IDB approves largest financial operation for Uruguay: 550 million dollars
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a 550 million dollars operation for Uruguay to fund the Program for Strategic International Positioning, which aims to substantially increase investment and exports by strengthening the regulatory and institutional framework, promoting and facilitating trade, and boosting entrepreneurial innovation.
French company investing 205m dollars in two wind farms with 35 turbines
French Akuo Energy has broken ground at two maiden wind farm developments in Uruguay totalling 92MW, as it prepares to expand its footprint across Latin America.
Singapore wealth fund boosts Spain’s Repsol, recovering from YPF nationalization
Singapore wealth fund Temasak has bought a 5% stake in Spanish oil group Repsol for just over one billion Euros, raising its total stake in the company to 6.3%, Repsol said in a release. The operation involves the entire portfolio of Repsol treasury stock at 16.01 Euros per share for a total of 1.036 billion Euros (1.35bn dollars).
IAG insists Iberia “must adapt to survive”; forecasts profit this year
British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has pledged to push through a plan to shrink Spanish arm Iberia by 15% and deliver a profit rebound this year following a group-wide loss last year.
World's richest man says Argentina is great and predictable: “you can never get hold of dollars”
Mexico’s Carlos Slim, probably the world’s richest man according to Forbes has referred to Argentina with certain irony when he was asked about the current foreign currency restrictions and changing regulatory framework implemented by the government of President Cristina Fernandez.
Brazilian market suffers the impact of iron-ore producer Vale record loss in fourth quarter
Brazil’s Bovespa-index futures declined with the equity gauge poised for its biggest monthly drop since May, after iron-ore producer Vale SA posted a record loss in the fourth quarter.
Repsol sells package of LNG assets to Shell to cut its debt and hold to credit rating
Spanish energy giant Repsol SA said Tuesday that it agreed to sell a package of liquefied natural gas assets to Royal Dutch Shell Plc in a transaction valued at 6.65 billion dollars. Shell will pay 4.4bn in cash and assume 2.25bn in debt, Repsol said in a regulatory filing.
Promising gas discovery in southern Chile Magallanes Region
GeoPark Holdings has revealed the discovery of the new Palos Quemados gas field on the Tranquilo block in Chile in the southern region of Magallanes. The Palos Quemados field is the first gas discovery in the Tranquilo Block by GeoPark and the first hydrocarbon discovery in the Magallanes Fold and Thrust Belt in more than 40 years.
For second time in a decade India/Latam trade in 2012 was down
India's trade with Latin America has gone down in 2012 in comparison to 2011. This is the second time the trade went down in the last decade when it was steadily growing. The earlier decline was in 2009 at the height of global crisis. Trade with the top seven countries of the region declined 15% from 25.274bn dollars in 2011 to 21.302bn in 2012.
