NATIONALIZED SPANISH AND ARGENTINE COMPANIES GET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000690

SIPDIS

HQ SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
TREASURY FOR RJARPE
NSC FOR RKING
USDOC FOR 4332 MAC/ITA/WH/JLAO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2019
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL VE
SUBJECT: NATIONALIZED SPANISH AND ARGENTINE COMPANIES GET
GOOD DEALS FROM GBRV

REF: A. CARACAS 247 AND PREVIOUS

B. CARACAS 614

Classified By: Economic Counselor Darnall Steuart for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Local analysts believe two major
nationalization agreements recently concluded by the
government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (GBRV)
represent good deals for the Spanish and Argentine owners of
the nationalized companies. In the case of Banco de
Venezuela (BdV),owned by Spanish Grupo Santander, the GBRV
agreed to pay USD 1.05 billion and reportedly will allow
Santander to repatriate a substantial amount of dividends.
In the case of steel maker Sidor, in which Argentine Techint
had a 60 percent stake, the GBRV agreed to pay USD 1.97
billion, making the first USD 400 million payment in May.
Several of our contacts have speculated national-level
political considerations played a role in the relatively
generous offers made by the GBRV, especially given its
current cash crunch. End summary.

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Banco de Venezuela
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2. (U) On May 22, the GBRV announced a letter of intent with
Santander to buy BdV for USD 1.05 billion. The parties would
sign the final agreement July 3, at which point the GBRV
would take control of the bank, ending an on-again, off-again
saga that began July 31, 2008 with President Chavez's
surprise announcement of his intent to nationalize BdV (ref
A). The GBRV would pay in three installments: USD 630
million July 3, USD 210 million in October 2009, and USD 210
million in December 2009. Although not mentioned in the
GBRV's announcement, the press and contacts report the GBRV
agreed to approve BdV's request to repatriate dividends to
Santander in excess of USD 100 million. (Note: Sources
differ as to the exact amount. One BdV employee believed it
to be USD 148 million, other reports have ranged from USD 122
to 300 million. Given companies' difficulties in getting
approval to repatriate dividends at the official rate (ref
B),Santander would consider a guarantee of approval as an
important part of compensation. End note.)


3. (C) Several local analysts have opined the deal is quite
favorable to Santander. Milton Guzman (strictly protect
throughout),BdV's chief economist, told Econoffs he shared
this assessment. According to Guzman, internal BdV estimates
of its value dropped from USD 1.4 to 1.5 billion before the
financial crisis to less than USD 1 billion. He speculated
the GBRV's favorable offer may have been due in part to
Chavez's desire not to burn bridges with the Spanish
government and with Santander's influential chairman Emelio
Botin. Guzman said he expected a large exodus of BdV private
sector clients before July 3 and that the GBRV would likely
use BdV to provide financing for PDVSA and other
cash-strapped state-owned enterprises. Finally, Guzman said
Santander would not completely depart Venezuela. It planned
to keep Bancrecer, a small development bank devoted to
providing financial services in poorer areas; and Valores
Santander, a small brokerage house. Noting Bancrecer had
moved subsequent to the May 22 announcement to close several
offices in poorer neighborhoods, Guzman speculated Santander
would seek to turn Bancrecer into a commercial or universal
bank, thus keeping a small foothold in the traditional
banking sector.

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Argentine Company Gets Paid Due to "Special Relationship"
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4. (C) After a year of negotiations, Argentina's Techint
(Terinium S.A.) reached a final agreement May 7 with the GRBV
for the sale of its Sidor unit. Jose Nunez Gomez, senior
partner in law firm Tinoco, Travieso, Planchart and Nunez,
told Econoff May 8 that USD 1.97 billion was "a good price"
for the company. He added that Paolo Roca, the Argentine
president of Techint, is close to the Kirchner administration
and that the Chavez government would give the Kirchners
"anything they want." Gomez reported that three former Sidor

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presidents told him in June 2008 that Techint ceded its seat
at the negotiating table to the Argentine government,
believing this was the only way Techint would get paid.


5. (C) Although the GBRV made its first installment payment
of $400 million to Techint in May, Gomez claimed he has
reason to believe that the Roca family is skeptical it will
receive the whole USD 1.97 billion. (Note: The agreement
stipulates the GBRV will pay USD 945 million in six equal
quarterly installments, with the balance to be paid in
October 2010. End note.) However, Gomez argued, the only
reason Techint received any kind of payment at all was
because of the "special relationship" between the Chavez and
Kirchner administrations. The former head of nationalized
cement company Holcim Venezuela told Econoff May 7 that the
Sidor deal does not give Holcim any greater hopes for
payment, as Holcim is a Swiss company, and "the Swiss do not
have Senora Kirchner" at their disposal.

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Comment
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5. (C) The deal for BdV, as well as further GBRV
nationalizations (or announcements thereof) in the oilfield
services and other sectors, suggest President Chavez is
intent on keeping momentum toward increased state control of
the economy. The fact that Argentine and Spanish companies
were offered what appear to be quite favorable terms, unlike,
for example, Mexico's Cemex or the U.S.'s Exxon Mobil and
Conoco Phillips, suggests a degree of political favoritism is
at work. It will be interesting to see if this trend
continues. Included in recent nationalization announcements
are important oilfield services assets of the Wood Group
(U.K.) and Williams (U.S.),as well as several iron briquette
companies partially owned by Techint (Argentine). End
comment.
CAULFIELD