Reuters dominates LatAm banking

Reuters was first with March 3 of Colombia’s state-run energy company Ecopetrol announced it would propose a massive $8.1 billion bond offering. Reuters was first again on March 4 when sources revealed that Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez’s government had delayed its planned nationalization of a local unit of Spain’s Santander bank for at least this year. Also, Reuters was alone on Feb. 26 with news that Brazilian investor Luiz Cezar Fernandes was in advanced talks to buy Dresdner’s unit in the country from Commerzbank for up to $100 million. Commerzbank confirmed the sale a week later.