Mexico to Issue New 30-Year Bonds: The...

Mexico to Issue New 30-Year Bonds: The Latin American country will issue between $1 billion and $2.5 billion worth of the 30-year dollar-denominated bonds, said Goldman, Sachs & Co., the lead manager of the offer. Mexico will swap those bonds for U.S.-backed Brady Bonds, a sign that Mexico’s status in world financial markets has improved. The news immediately sent Mexican bond prices and the peso higher. The offer, which expires April 30 unless Mexico extends it, is meant to let the country achieve longer terms and lower interest rates on its debt, and will eliminate a need to keep collateral on hand to repay the loans. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group gave the new bonds a junk-bond rating of double B, the same currently assigned to the Brady Bonds. The Brady Bonds lost much of their value in late 1994 and early ‘95, in large part because of Mexico’s economic crisis.