PDVSA Offers Debt Exchange to Service Providers

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Under the deal, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela SA, known as PDVSA, would issue a three-year international bond and hand it to approved suppliers in exchange for cancelling some of the $20 billion worth of unpaid invoices. The bond would be priced at about a 40% discount to the company’s benchmark obligation, which currently trades at about 45 cents on the dollar, said the sources and the deal prospectus.

PDVSA representatives began sounding out local and international suppliers last week to gauge interest in the swap, and the company has hired Miami firm CP Capital Securities to arrange the transaction , said the sources. PDVSA and CP Capital didn’t reply to requests for comment.

“CP Capital has been hired to advise PDVSA on the exchange of commercial invoices for financial debt with a minimum amount of $2.5 billion,” read a deal prospectus viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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