Finance Watch -- WSJ

CREDIT MARKETS

Petrobras Bonds Raise $6.75 Billion

Brazilian state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, raised a total $6.75 billion from an overseas bond issue, but it was obligated to pay a high yield to investors, due to its elevated debt.

The company issued its bonds via two tranches. The first, worth $5 billion, is due in May 2021 and will pay an annual yield of 8.625%. The second tranche, totaling $1.75 billion, will pay a yield of 9% and mature in May 2026. In June 2015, by comparison, Petrobras raised $2.5 billion, via a 100-year bond issue, with an annual yield of 8.45%.

In previous years, Petrobras has tapped U.S. and European debt markets for tens of billions of dollars, paying investors interest rates that often fell below 5%.

--Rogerio Jelmayer

M&A ACTIVITY

Hartford Funds to Buy ETF Operator

Hartford Funds agreed to acquire exchange-traded funds operator Lattice Strategies, another response by a traditional mutual-fund company to investors' push into passively managed funds such as ETFs.

Hartford Funds declined to divulge the value of the deal, which it expects to close in the third quarter, but said the acquisition won't have a material impact on the financial results of its parent, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.

The acquisition of San Francisco-based Lattice, with $215 million in assets, would mark the first foray into ETFs by Hartford Funds, of Radnor, Pa. The fund group now offers 45 actively managed mutual funds, which are primarily subadvised by Wellington Management.

Lattice offers four "multifactor strategic beta" ETFs., which blur the lines between active and passive management by using metrics other than market capitalization when buying stocks, such as a company's dividends, book value or volatility.

--Daisy Maxey

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2016 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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