Argentine Bond Spree Tops $3.4 Billion With Buenos Aires Sale
The Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/BloombergTakeaways by Bloomberg AI
- The City of Buenos Aires has returned to global markets after almost a decade, issuing $600 million in 8-year dollar bonds.
- The bond sale is part of a larger trend, with foreign debt issuance reaching almost $3.5 billion in the past three weeks, and Argentine companies having sold more than $2.7 billion in dollar-debt since late May.
- The sales indicate that Argentina is joining the surge in emerging-market debt issuance, with investors showing confidence in the economic outlook after a recent election and trade deal with the US.
The bond sale spree in Argentina has spread into the public sector, with the City of Buenos Aires returning to global markets after almost a decade and bringing foreign debt issuance to almost $3.5 billion in the past three weeks, topping the volume of the previous five months combined.
Buenos Aires issued $600 million in 8-year dollar bonds on Nov. 18 — the first time the city sold international debt since 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The comeback follows a swath of corporate sales: Six companies have tapped international debt markets with deals over $100 million following Javier Milei’s surprisingly strong showing on the Oct. 26 midterm vote, which halted a nascent currency crisis and boosted confidence in the economic outlook.
The sales indicate that Argentina is finally joining the surge in emerging-market debt issuance that started earlier this year as investors began to shift money out of the US amid policy instability. Developing nation sovereigns and companies have sold more than $700 billion in hard-currency notes in 2025, the busiest year since 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Argentine companies were ready to seize the EM window earlier this year, but volatility ahead of the midterms kept them from taking advantage,” said Juan Barros Moss, director of Advisory and Capital Markets at Balanz. “Still, issuers had done their homework and were able to move right after. The positive momentum for Argentine borrowers should continue.”
The bond wave began just days after the vote, when YPF SA and Tecpetrol SA sold $500 million and $750 million in notes, respectively. That was followed by Pampa Energía SA’s $450 million bond sale, Edenor SA’s $201 million issuance and Pluspetrol SA’s $450 million bond deal. The latest was Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA’s $500 million bond, which priced last week. Yields on the new notes have come in between 7.625% and 10.375%, with maturities ranging from 2030 to 2037.
Dollar-debt sales have now outpaced the $2.7 billion raised by Argentine firms and provinces from late May through the election, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Power producer Genneia is set to join the frenzy, according to a person familiar with the deal, expecting to place an 8-year dollar bond this week. The company, which is also eying an initial public offering in early 2026, is looking to raise as much as $500 million, the person said, asking not to be named because the information is not public. The company declined to comment Wednesday.
The urgency among Argentine issuers stems from a sharp drop in country risk since the election. The spread over US Treasuries has narrowed to around 600 basis points, down from more than 1,400 points in mid-September, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. data.
The government expects the recent trade deal with the US, along with a reform package headed to Congress, to help push country risk even lower, creating room for more debt sales — potentially even from the sovereign. The bond frenzy is also bringing much-needed dollars into the cash-strapped nation. The peso strengthened in the weeks after the vote and is now trading past 1,400 per dollar for the first time since October as market confidence improves.
Read More: Troubled Nations Return to Debt Markets Amid Yield Hunt
“After several major corporate deals, the provincial segment kicked off with a successful issuance from Buenos Aires,” said economist Gustavo Ber, director of local consultancy Estudio Ber. “There’s clear investor appetite abroad. All of this sets the stage for a potential sovereign issuance
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