Mexican Builder Settles Unique Offering

Builder Desarrolladora Homex SA de CV, Culiacan, Mexico, has settled a first-of-its-kind transaction involving $250 million of 7.55% senior guaranteed notes due 2015.The company said the offering, which was made to qualified institutional investors pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S (to non-U.S. buyers) under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, consisted of securities that "are the first of their kind in size, rate, and maturity for a homebuilding company in Mexico." The company said it hedged the principal of the notes with an instrument that brings the fixed interest rate to approximately 10.4%, the lowest in the Mexican housing sector. "The spread for these instruments is the lowest among peers in Mexico and the U.S.," Desarrolladora Homex said. "Upon issuance of the notes the company will not face debt principal payments in the next three years, strengthening its financial position." The company said the issuance "is intended to strengthen the company's balance sheet by extending the average maturity of its debt obligations from an average of three years to an average of more than eight years."