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        T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                     L A T I N   A M E R I C A

           Wednesday, January 24, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 17

                            Headlines





A R G E N T I N A

EPESF/EPEC: Buyers Seek Operating Synergies For Two Companies
YACIMIENTOS MINEROS: To Advance $1M Restructuring Plan


B R A Z I L

iG: Most Popular Residential Access Provider According To Survey


H O N D U R A S

HONDUTEL: To Publish Supply Auction Details By Mid-February


M E X I C O

AEROMEXICO: To Increase Airfares By 6.5 Percent
BANCO DEL ATLANTICO: IPAB Finalizing Bital Acquisition Details
CINTRA: Mexican Carriers To Spend 40 Million Pesos Advertising
UNEFON: To Spend $300M This Year Expanding Infrastructure


V E N E Z U E L A

MANPA: Shares Soar Following Reports Of Possible Sale
MAVESA: Polar To Pay $510M For Local Consumer Products Maker




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A R G E N T I N A
=================

EPESF/EPEC: Buyers Seek Operating Synergies For Two Companies
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Epesf director Fernando Alonso told BNamericas.com in a report
released Monday that buyers of Argentine utilities Epec (Cordoba
province) and Epesf (Santa Fe province) would seek operating
synergies between the two companies.

"The international companies interested in Epesf and Epec are
looking for important economies of scale and synergy that could
result from controlling both companies, as they are in the same
region of the country and have bordering concessions, although
this does not mean they will operate as the same company," Alonso
said.

The sale of control in the utilities is independent. Therefore,
buyers considering both sales would have to participate in
different consortia or companies, which the law requires to have
different names, even though they could have the same ownership,
Alonso explained.

Among the companies interested in the utilities are PSEG, US
companies Duke Energy and AES, Belgium's Tractebel, France's EDF
and Spain's Endesa.


YACIMIENTOS MINEROS: To Advance $1M Restructuring Plan
------------------------------------------------------------
Yacimientos Mineros Aguas de Dionisio (YMAD) manager Carlos Oscar
Maldonado told BNamericas.com that the company is bringing
forward its US$1 million restructuring plan in a report released
Monday.  According to Maldonado, the money will not be invested
all at once. Instead, it will be used among other things, to
increase extraction. The restructuring plan includes improving
productivity at both the mine and the plant, bringing costs more
in line with sale prices, increasing metallurgical recovery rates
and expanding the heap leaching area.

When asked about possibilities of privatization, Maldonado
answered, "Some operations of the mine could be privatized, such
as mineral transportation or some other side activity, but the
present administration will keep operating as it is."

"Although YMAD operates like a private company, it is owned by
both the national and provincial governments, and so to take
measures such as cutting personnel is more complicated and
options are sought to maintain jobs," Maldonado added.



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B R A Z I L
===========

iG: Most Popular Residential Access Provider According To Survey
----------------------------------------------------------------
Free access provider Internet Group do Brasil (iG) was the most
popular residential Internet access provider in Brazil in
December, according to a study conducted by the Brazilian
audience measuring firm Ibope Pop. In a report released Monday by
BNamericas.com, Ibope Pop estimated IG's market share at 31
percent of residential Internet users, ahead of other local
access and content providers.

IG's free access portal www.ig.com.br boasts 3.8 million
registered users, and reports average growth of 8,000 users per
day. With points of presence in 89 cities, the company registers
22 million daily page-views. IG is expected to finalize the sale
of its Internet access division IG Acesso to Brazilian fixed line
operator Telemar later this month. Telemar previously said it
would not pay more than US$25.7 millionn (R$50mn).



===============
H O N D U R A S
===============

HONDUTEL: To Publish Supply Auction Details By Mid-February
-----------------------------------------------------------
Development Director of Honduran state-run telco Hondutel that
the company expects to publish the details of the auction for
contracts to supply the equivalent of 41,000 lines by mid-
February. The fixed line contracts relate to lines that are
currently out of service, and which Hondutel's privatization
committee would like to activate to improve the value of the
company prior to another sale effort, committee member David
Rivera told BNamericas.com on Monday. The company's first attempt
to sell a 51-percent stake for at least US$300 million in October
of last year collapsed when Mexico's Telmex was the only company
to bid, offering just US$106 million.

Hondutel directors are currently discussing modifications to the
eventual concession and legal framework for the company after
privatization, and as such are not ready to announce a new sale
schedule.



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M E X I C O
===========

AEROMEXICO: To Increase Airfares By 6.5 Percent
-----------------------------------------------
Aeromexico revealed plans to increase airfares by 6.5 percent
this year, reported El Economista/Infolatina Monday. The leading
Mexican carrier's planned airfare hike is in line with the
government's inflation target. According to Aeromexico, it would
not raise fares more than the expected rate of inflation due to
competitive pressures from international airlines. The airline
said that airfares in 2000 declined in real terms between 3
percent and 12 percent.

This year, the carrier expects to carry a some 10.7 million
passengers, a 7 percent increase over last year.


BANCO DEL ATLANTICO: IPAB Finalizing Bital Acquisition Details
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mexican bank bailout agency IPAB is eager to finalize
arrangements for the acquisition of government-intervened Banco
del Atlantico by Grupo Financiero Bital, El Economista/Infolatina
said Thursday last week. According to sources close to the deal,
there are no major obstacles to the transaction, which is
predicted to be concluded in a matter of weeks. The only reason a
final date has not yet been set is that IPAB and Bital are still
negotiating over the terms of the deal. The transaction is very
important for Bital because, if it walks away largely free of
Atlantico's liabilities, it won't have to seek another merger
with larger insititution.


CINTRA: Mexican Carriers To Spend 40 Million Pesos Advertising
--------------------------------------------------------------
Juan Diaz Canedo, a Senior executive at government-owned holding
company Cintra, announced that leading Mexican carriers
Aeromexico and Mexicana plan to spend approximately 40 million
pesos on advertising this year, El Universal/Infolatina said
Monday. The Federal Competition Commission (CFC) last year ruled
Cintra should be broken up and sold in order to curb the existing
airline monopoly.

Mexican bank bailout and deposits insurance agency IPAB is in
charge of the planned breakup and sale of the company, Diaz said,
adding that the agency has not as yet informed Cintra management
whether the sale process will be conducted at any time in the
near future. "These are matters that IPAB is handling, and
everyone has to work on the basis of that assumption. I'm not
involved in the sale," Diaz stressed.

IPAB holds a majority stake in Cintra.


UNEFON: To Spend $300M This Year Expanding Infrastructure
---------------------------------------------------------
Mexican mobile telephone carrier Unefon said it would invest $300
million for the expansion of its infrastructure throughout
Mexico, reported Reforma/Infolatina Monday. In addition, Moises
Saba and TV Azteca's Ricardo Salinas Pliego, two major
shareholders of Unefon, said that they also plan to inject
another $220 million into the mobile telephone carrier.

The company reportedly raised $98 million in its IPO (initial
public offering) on the Mexican Stock Exchange late last year.



=================
V E N E Z U E L A
=================

MANPA: Shares Soar Following Reports Of Possible Sale
-----------------------------------------------------
Shares of Manufacturas del Papel CA (Manpa) soared from 10.95
bolivars to 72.95 bolivars ($0.10) following reports that the
company expects to be sold in two months, Bloomberg said Monday.
According to company President Alejandro Delfino, whose family
owns 80 percent of Manpa's stock, he is in advanced talks with
one multinational paper company for a sale but declined to
identify it. Delfino said three other international companies
have also expressed an interest.

The president also revealed the company would sell 50,000
hectares (123,550 acres) of pine plantations to Chile's Forestal
Terranova SA for $24 million next week. Proceeds from the sale
are intended to make the company's balance sheet more attractive
by paying down debt.

Manpa, Venezuela's largest publicly traded paper company, makes
paper bags, industrial shacks, notebooks, paper pads, form-feed
computer paper and sheet paper. Talks of selling a minor stake or
seeking a merger first surfaced last November.


MAVESA: Polar To Pay $510M For Local Consumer Products Maker
------------------------------------------------------------
Venezuelan industrial conglomerate Empresas Polar announced it
would buy local consumer products maker Mavesa for $510 million,
according to a Reuters report released Monday. Closely held Polar
will offer $8.50 for each Mavesa American depositary receipt, and
99 bolivars ($0.1417) for each Mavesa share, about a 17 percent
premium over Friday's closing prices of $7.31, and 83.25
bolivars, respectively. Each ADR is equal to 60 shares.

"It's a great price for everyone," said Alex Dalmady, managing
director of research firm InvestAnalysis, adding, "Polar's not
overpaying."

"The beauty of this operation is the synergies it adds to our
product line, and particularly in strengthening our presence in
the regional market," said Polar CEO Lorezno Mendoza at a news
conference. He said the purchase would be immediately accretive
to earnings.

Polar will pay for 60 percent of the acquisition in cash, and
will borrow the remainder. Financing for the deal is being put
together by Citigroup Inc.'s Venezuelan unit and region
development bank Andean Development Corp.




S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter Latin American is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ,
and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC. John D. Resnick, Edem
Psamathe P. Alfeche and Janice Mendoza, Editors.

Copyright 2001.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2746.

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