Mexicos Alfa buys Bancomers Onexa stake for $51 mln
Mexican conglomerate Alfa SA (ALFA.MX) said Monday it bought the 49% of its telecommunications unit Onexa that was owned by financial group BBVA-Bancomer for $51 million.
Onexa is a joint-venture partner with AT&T Corp. (T) in telephone company Alestra. Onexa holds 51% of Alestra and AT&T owns 49%. BBVA-Bancomer is the Mexican unit of Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV).
Alfa said that increasing its stake in Onexa to 100% will give the company more flexibility in taking strategic decisions with its telecommunications investment.
Alestra, with annual sales of $400 million generating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, of $100 million, has focused more on value-added services such as Internet and data transmission, Alfa said.
More : marketwatch.com
Vinci sells stake in Mexico's SETA airport operator for nearly 38 mln usd
Vinci said it has sold its holding in Mexican airport operator SETA to Mexico's ICA for just under 38 mln usd, completing the French company's withdrawal from the country's airport sector.
SETA operated 13 airports in North and central Mexico, including Monterrey airport.
In April 2004, Vinci sold the indirect holding it had in the airports of southern Mexico for around 30 mln usd.
Soure: forbes.com
Alfa Cultural Center (Centro Cultural (Planetario) Alfa) : Monterrey
Known for its Planetarium, Alfa's cultural center encompasses a museum of science, art and technology. The planetarium is equipped with a state of the art Omnimax system with an 85% surround capability on its 24 square meter screen. The museum itself is made up of five levels which hold permanent exhibits with different themes, including the company's history and mexican prehistoric art. It is one of Monterrey's most powerful industrial conglomerates, Grupo Alfa, is architect and sponsor of the Centro Cultural Alfa. The center is open to the public and sponsors
Centro Cultural Alfa: Monterrey
Mexicos Urbi sells $150 mln in 10-yr bonds
Mexican homebuilder Urbi (URBI.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday said it has placed $150 million in 10-year senior bonds in the U.S. market.
Urbi, one of Mexicos largest house construction firms, said it planned to use proceeds from the 8.5 percent, 2016 maturing bond to refinance debt and fund other corporate activities.
The bonds, offered to institutional investors in the United States and other countries, have been rated BB by Standard and Poors and Fitch ratings and BA3 by Moodys.
More: today.reuters.com
Shell Swaps Stake in Gulf of Mexico Field
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday it will swap its 17 percent stake in the Gulf of Mexico's Tahiti field for Total SA's interests in natural gas assets in South Texas.
The Tahiti field, nearly 190 miles southwest of New Orleans, is operated by Chevron Corp. Total said first production is planned for mid-2008 from a floating production facility with daily capacity of 125,000 barrels of oil and 70 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Source: news.moneycentral.msn.com
Mexicos GCC has 7-yr, $250 mln syndicated loan
Mexican cement maker Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it obtained a seven-year syndicated loan worth $250 million that it will use to refinance other credits and fund its U.S. expansion.
A group of eight local and international banks granted the credit to the cement maker.
Cementos Chihuahua said it would use the proceeds to refinance bridge loans obtained on May 1, 2006 and used to buy The Hardesty Company Inc. and Alliance Transportation, known as Mid-Continent Concrete Co. (Midco).
Another part of the proceeds will be put toward the
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA has won the bid to construct and operate a light rail network in Mexico City, with an investment totalling around 510 mln eur, El Pais reported, citing the Mexican transport authorities.
CAF beat Alstom for the contract, the newspaper noted.
The new rail network will be operational in Oct, 2006, El Pais added.
Source: forbes.com
Mexico's GCC buys concrete companies in Minnesota, South Dakota
Mexican cement company Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua SA said Thursday it bought four ready-mix concrete companies in the northern United States.
In a press release, Chihuahua-based GCC said the companies - Consolidated Ready Mix Inc., Henrich and Sons Inc., Huron Steel Structures Inc. and B&B Concrete Inc. - have annual sales of about $30 million.
GCC didn't say how much it paid for the acquisition, which includes 14 concrete plants in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota, and 100 concrete mixer trucks.
GCC said the acquisition will strengthen its leading position in South Dakota
Mexico's Televisa replaces $600 mln in debt
Mexico's No. 1 broadcaster Televisa said on Wednesday it had successfully replaced $600 million in existing debt with identical new paper in a technical operation to comply with U.S. market regulations.
Televisa (TLVSCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) (TV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said its month-long offer to exchange debt with a coupon of 6.625 percent and maturing in 2025 for identical new paper closed on Tuesday.
"The total amount of old debt was exchanged for new bonds, corresponding to $600 million in new bonds issued today, September 7, 2005," Televisa said.
The operation was a purely technical one
Mexicos Slim to invest $560 mln in Peru mobiles
Carlos Slim, the Mexican tycoon who controls leading Latin American cell phone company America Movil (AMXL.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) (AMX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said on Monday he would invest about $560 million in Perus mobile phone sector in the next two years.
We are investing a great deal in the mobile phone network and we will continue investing, as I mentioned to the president, about $280 million per year in the next two years, Slim told reporters after meeting with Peruvian President Alan Garcia.
Penetration here is relatively low compared with other Latin American
