Convergencia Research, Consultoría especializada en Latinoamérica y Caribe
Monday, March 17, 2003

Coinvest bought CTI, but Techtel was key

Upon its relationship with the Morgan Grenfell, the investment bank kept the fourth cell operator. However, the operation have been made through Techtel

Coinvest kept CTI Móvil, the fourth mobile carrier, whose main shareholder was Verizon. For the operation, it was necessary for Coinvest to get funds from the Morgan Grenfell, shareholder of the operator, that has a relationship with CTI¿s creditors through the parent company: the Deutsche Bank. However, the operation’s logistics have been completed by Techtel, company that has been assessing CTI since October 2002, and that had already placed Carlos Stea, o ne of its key men, within the cellco¿s Board.Similar to MetroRed¿s purchase, Coinvest raised funds through a minor shareholder within the partnership acquired. Before, it has been the HSBC, now it was the Morgan Grenfell. But the weight of the entity comes not for the funding of the US$ 20 million paid for CTI Móvil, but for its key role in the next restructure of the US$ 1.05 billion debt the cellco has. The true value Coinvest may have paid for the firm would stem from there, and it is estimated the price should be around US$ 300 and US$ 400 million. Morgan Grenfell is the investment fund of the Deutsche Bank that held 4.2% of CTI stock at the time of the sale. The German bank has a tight relationship with Lucent Technologies, main creditor. In fact, CTI¿s PCS network roll-out has been funded with US$ 252.7 million of Lucent and US$ 234 million of the New York Branch of the Deutsche Bank. However, o n March 13th, 2002, two days before default, the bank transferred all the rights of that credit to Lucent, that became the main creditor with US$ 486.7 million. At the time, the transfer generated doubts, but now there are increasing certainties that the bank keeps a wide interest in that amount, and that the US$ 20 million are part of an agreement with Coinvest, that assures the best bailout possible.Coinvest may have also posed a wedge for the Citibank, thatof a syndicated loan for US$ 210 million), appeared as the most hostile creditor. It is worth reminding that, though Martín Ruete Aguirre -the highest executive in the fund- is well-known for his services in Telefónica de Argentina, his arrival in the operator may have been as representative of the US bank. And it is probable that he has used his contacts to get the blessing of the Citibank to take over the firm.With pieces thus set, CTI¿s debt restructure seems accessible, but when it comes to the operation’s logistics, traces take to Techtel, the partnership between América Móvil and Techint. The major indication is that within the new Board of CTI, appointed o n March 3rd, there is Stea as Cost CFO, a vital position to lead renegotiation.To a day before, Stea was the Director of Corporate Services in Techtel, and the CEO Héctor Masoero¿s right-hand man. And nothing prompts the thought that Stea may have gotten a better labor offer from CTI: he is 50, and has been working in Techint since 1977, always next to Masoero. His resume is profuse, and depicts a deep loyalty with the Italian-Argentine firm: he was Treasury Director in Telefónica (1990-1993), Director of Administration and Finance in Miniphone (1993-1996), Director of Administration and Finance in Unifón (1996-1999), and since Techint left Telefónica, he has worked for Techtel.It has been indirectly proven that some 15 days before the operation¿s disclosure, Techtel¿s executives traveled to New York, and worked late hours in the corporate building, even o n Saturday and Sunday. Then, the doubt is why Techtel transferred the initiative to Coinvest and, though there are o nly uncertainties around the issue, all lead to the possibility of a two-step sale that may be completed with the arrival of América Móvil. An unlikely hypothesis may be that Techint walked this way alone, tired of transferring business opportunities to its Mexican partners. More likely though may be that alMóvil bought BCP Nordeste (BellSouth) in Brazil, and that in December it kept Celcaribe (Millicom) in Colombia, therefore, it won’t be positive for the credit rating to appear as buyer of a debt-saddled Argentine firm. Coinvest and Techtel executives have a past in common: both were members of the Telefónica¿s consortium that in 1990 took over the south area of Entel. Héctor Masoero, President of Techtel, represented Techint, while some of the current Coinvest executives may have worked for the Citibank (Martín Ruete Aguirre) and Banco Río (Gonzalo Pérés Moore and Roberto Ruiz). Since then, Ruete and Masoero have shown a mutual professional respect. In 1999, during the PCS tender, Techint was o ne of the losers. If it had succeeded, the firm would have had to spend some US$ 350 million in the license, and another US$ 500 million to roll out the network. Now, it is estimated CTI, that invested US$ 2 billion, may have a cap price of US$ 400 million after debt restructure.

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