Argentina Said to Plan Bond Market Return to Buy Back Warrants

(Bloomberg) -- Argentina is selling overseas bonds for the second time this year after ending a more than decade-long legal battle tied to its record default.

The country is seeking to sell as much as $2.5 billion of bonds and will use the proceeds to buy back warrants issued during debt restructurings in 2005 and 2010, according to a Finance Ministry official who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Twelve-year notes are being marketed to yield 6.75 percent while 20-year securities would yield 7.25 percent, according to a different person familiar with the matter.

Argentina offered Tuesday to buy back the warrants tied to growth in gross domestic product to save the government as much as $9.4 billion in expenses over coming years.

Argentina sold $16.5 billion of bonds in April after President Mauricio Macri reached a milestone deal with holdout creditors led by billionaire Paul Singer who didn’t take part in the restructurings. The country, home to South America’s second-largest economy, received almost $70 billion in offers from international investors.

--With assistance from Daniel Cancel To contact the reporters on this story: Carolina Millan in Buenos Aires at cmillanronch@bloomberg.net, Brian Smith in New York at bsmith373@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Walsh at bwalsh8@bloomberg.net, Andres R. Martinez