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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

            Monday, March 12, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 49

                           Headlines


A R G E N T I N A

ALPARGATAS: To Lay Off 850 Workers


B R A Z I L

LOJA ARAPUA: Attorney General's Office Recommends Bankruptcy


C H I L E

MADECO S.A.: Company Profile


C O L O M B I A

BANCAFE: Sale To Be Completed Soon


M E X I C O

ATLANTICO: Ipab, Bital Far From Reaching Final Deal
BANCRECER: To Auction More Bad-Loans In Eight Weeks
CINTRA: Energy Minister To Scrutinize Sale Process
CINTRA: Aeromexico, Mexicana Investing Despite Pending Sale
GMD: Makes Over P$350 Million In Promissory Note Payments
GRUPO DINA: Union Wants Government Intervention On Wage Dispute
GRUPO PROTEXA: Denies Rumors Of Agreement With Creditors
HYLSAMEX: Restructures US$155M Short-Term Debt
ICA: Stock Remains Listed On Bourse Despite Financial Woes


     - - - - - - - - - -


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

ALPARGATAS: To Lay Off 850 Workers
----------------------------------
Argentine footwear and textile maker Alpargatas SA, after
struggling financially for the past few years, is laying-off 850
of its 2,100 employees, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report
Thursday. Citing an announcement from the Argentine Association
of Textile Workers, the agency said most of the lay-offs would
affect the company's Tucuman province plant in northwestern
Argentina. A union source told the agency that Tucuman governor
Julio Miranda plans to make an appeal before Argentina's new
economy minister Ricardo Lopez Murphy about the situation.

Alpargatas produces and distributes sports shoes and clothing for
international giants such as Nike Inc (NKE), Italy's Fila Sport
SpA (FLH) and Converse Inc (CVE),



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B R A Z I L
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LOJA ARAPUA: Attorney General's Office Recommends Bankruptcy
------------------------------------------------------------
The Attorney General's Office recommended the bankruptcy of the
Brazilian retail trade chain Lojas Arapua if it fails to deposit
the first installment of R$260 million according to the court-
supervised agreement with creditors, South American Business
Information said Thursday. In addition, the company was asked to
give information about the creditors that neither had their
credit assigned nor took part on the company's restructuring
plan.

Arapua's crisis started in 1997, when the company posted R$185
million in losses, and its orders dropped from R$1.5 million in
1996 to R$500 million in 1997. In 1998, the company sought
bankruptcy protection due to an R$800-million debt. In 1999, the
company negotiated 66 percent of its debts with its creditors, by
issuing new debentures. Only Evadin, its major creditor, did not
agree with the settlement.


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C H I L E
=========

MADECO S.A.: Company Profile
----------------------------
Name:       Ureta Cox 930
            Santiago, Chile, Chile

Telephone:  (562) 520-1000

Fax:        (562) 551-6413

Employees:  4,553 (last reported count)

Website:    http://www.madeco.cl

Type of Business: Madeco, formerly named Manufacturas de Cobre
                  MADECO S.A., was incorporated in 1944 as an
                  open stock corporation (sociedad anĒnima) under
                  the laws of the Republic of Chile ("Chile") and
                  was originally engaged in the conversion of
                  extracted copper into sheets, wire, plates,
                  tubes, bars and other products.

                  The Company at present, is the leading
                  manufacturer in terms of sales and production
                  volume of copper-and-aluminum based products in
                  Chile, selling its products, and providing its
                  services to several important sectors of the
                  Chilean economy, most notably the
                  telecommunications, construction, mining,
                  energy, general industrial and consumer
                  products industries. Madeco has four operating
                  segments: wire and cables, brass mills,
                  flexible packaging, and aluminum profiles

Primary SIC:     Telephone communications, exc. radio (4813)

Major Industry:  Metal Product Manufacturers

Sub Industry:    Diversified Metal Products Manufacturers

Unconsolidated net loss: 16.786 billion pesos (Year-end 2000)

Trigger Event:    The current corporate operations of the Company
                  are a direct result of a reorganization  
                  during the first quarter of 1999.

CEO:         Albert Cussen McKenna

CHAIRMAN:    Oscar Ruiz-Tagle Humeres

General Counsel and    : ENRIQUE SOTOMAYOR ARANGUA
Secretary of The Board

Last TCRLA Headline DATE: March 9, 2001



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C O L O M B I A
===============

BANCAFE: Sale To Be Completed Soon
----------------------------------
The Colombian government expects the sale of Bancafe to be
completed by the end of the first semester of 2001, third quarter
at the latest, South American Business Information said Thursday.
The Colombian bank is studying the possibility of a capital
increase to improve the organization's equity prior to sale, a
move which could delay the sale slightly. Otherwise, shares will
be on sale to employees and ex-employees by the end of March and
very soon the valuation of the bank will be known, as assessed by
a temporary joint venture between BNP-Paribas and Corporacion
Financiera del Valle (Corfivalle). A presentation is expected to
take place at the Inter-American Development Bank's meeting on
March 19 in Chilean capital Santiago to spark investor interest.
According to the bank's president Pedro Nel Ospina, the
institution is in need of a US$120-million capital injection to
bolster its equity. Bancafe had assets worth US$2.6 billion at
the end of 2000. However, its equity amounts to only US$83.5
million, giving little room for large-scale loan operations.



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

ATLANTICO: Ipab, Bital Far From Reaching Final Deal
---------------------------------------------------
Mexican bank bailout agency IPAB and Grupo Financiero Bital have
not yet reached a cost-sharing agreement for recapitalizing
government-intervened bank Atlantico, Reforma/Infolatina said
Thursday. In fact, the two institutions are still currently in
talks regarding Bital's stalled acquisition of the failed bank.
According to sources close to the negotiations, while an IPAB
proposal had been presented to Bital and a Bital counterproposal
presented to the agency, no final deal is imminent.


BANCRECER: To Auction More Bad-Loans In Eight Weeks
----------------------------------------------------
Mexican bank bailout agency IPAB is expected to auction off
another 1.4 billion pesos in loan portfolios from government-
intervened Bancrecer in the next eight weeks, according to a
Reforma/Infolatina report released Thursday. Last week, the
agency sold 9,793 home-mortgages from the bank's bad-loan
portfolio for a total of 815.73 million pesos to Mexico's fifth-
largest bank Banorte, FirstCity, and U.S.-based Lone Star
Investment. The total amount paid for the mortgages, which were
sold in six separate packages, was approximately 29 percent of
their combined book value, the agency said.

IPAB is set to inject even more money into Bancrecer in a final
bid to make it attractive to potential buyers - IPAB will cover
all the Fobaproa contingencies such as its mutual loss-sharing
agreement as well as the incentives scheme it ran.


CINTRA: Energy Minister To Scrutinize Sale Process
--------------------------------------------------
Mexican Energy Minister Ernesto Martens is expected to monitor
closely the developments of the impending breakup and sale of
government-owned airline holding company Cintra,
Reforma/Infolatina reported Thursday. Martens formerly served as
chairman of Cintra and currently has a 10-percent stake in
regional airline Aeromar. Martens' stake in the company was
aquired last year for around 12 million dollars, before he was
named into President Vicente Fox's Cabinet.

Late last year, Mexican antitrust authorities ruled that Cintra,
which controls leading carriers Aeromexico and Mexicana, should
be broken up and sold. A group of prominent Monterrey businessmen
have already expressed interest in Aeromexico. Among those who
are widely believed to be members of the group are Eugenio Garza
Laguera and Grupo Vitro's Adrian Sada.


CINTRA: Aeromexico, Mexicana Investing Despite Pending Sale
-----------------------------------------------------------
Aeromexico and Mexicana, despite the imminent sale of holding
company Cintra, are set to carry on with their investments, South
American Business Information said Thursday. Aeromexico's
investment intentions haven't been disclosed. Mexicana is
expected to invest between US$10-$15 million this year, according
to its general director and chairman of Canaero (the national air
transport chamber), Fernando Flores. Mexicana's investments will
not be in planes, for obvious reasons, but maintenance, offices,
systems, etc. The company expects to invest in the fleet after
Cintra is sold in November of this year.


GMD: Makes Over P$350 Million In Promissory Note Payments
---------------------------------------------------------
Mexican industrial builder Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo (GMD)
announced it had made payments of P$35 million and P$350 million
on promissory notes as part of its financial restructuring,
Reuters reported Thursday. Consequently, GDM complies with all of
the commitments it assumed as a result of the restructuring
process.

In 1997, GMD began a renegotiation of its bank debt and a $250
million eurobond issue which becomes due this year. It resumed
trading on the local stock exchange in November after a
suspension of more than two years due to losses, which stemmed
mainly from the fallout of the Mexico peso devaluation in
December 1994. The company opted to sell a large amount of equity
to pay off debt while focusing on less risky, more profitable
projects.

GMD is involved in road and water treatment projects as well as
maritime cargo terminals and municipal services. Last year, it
showed an operating profit of P$32.4 million compared with a loss
of P$28.2 million pesos in 1999.


GRUPO DINA: Union Wants Government Intervention On Wage Dispute
---------------------------------------------------------------
Union leaders at Mexican heavy-vehicle maker Grupo Dina asked the
federal government to intervene in a wage dispute, saying that
the company management had adopted a hostile stance toward
workers' claims, Infolatina reported Thursday. Dina has
maintained the position that it is unable to grant a 40 percent
wage increase, as demanded by the labor union, because of the
company's critical financial condition. Dina's current troubles
were largely precipitated by Western Star Truck's cancellation of
a contract to purchase 9,000 trucks over a 3-year period.

Union leaders urged the government to rescue the company by
providing financing, output subsidies or assistance in the search
for a new financial partner. A strike has been scheduled for
March 20 should leaders and management fail to reach an
agreement. Analysts believe Dina is on the verge of bankruptcy.


GRUPO PROTEXA: Denies Rumors Of Agreement With Creditors
--------------------------------------------------------
Rumors suggesting that Mexico's Grupo Protexa reached an
agreement with its creditors are untrue. Sources close to the
company say an agreement regarding the guidelines to be followed
in the renegotiation of terms on a 90-million-dollar eurobond
issue the company conducted in 1997 is yet to be reached. In a
Reforma/Infolatina report published Thursday sources at Protexa
say the company is currently in talks with Bank of Tokyo
regarding an agreement on restructuring its obligations to
bondholders, which consists of ING, Refco and Templeton.


HYLSAMEX: Restructures US$155M Short-Term Debt
----------------------------------------------
Mexican steelmaker Hylsamex SA, struggling against sinking steel
prices and high energy costs, announced it has restructured
US$155 million in short-term debts, South American Business
Information reported Thursday. In addition, the company has also
obtained a temporary exemption for its US$400 million long-term
syndicated debt. As a result, Hylsamex projects it will have
enough cash flow to make this year's interest payments. Hylsamex
has $1.35 billion in total liabilities and is struggling to keep
up with current payments. This year, the company faces about $298
million of maturing short-term and long-term debt.


ICA: Stock Remains Listed On Bourse Despite Financial Woes
----------------------------------------------------------
Unlike its competitors, Mexican construction company Ingenieros
Civiles Asociados (ICA) remains listed on the local stock
exchange despite its serious financial struggles, according to a
report on El Economista/Infolatina Thursday. The company
announced earlier this month that net losses in the year 2000
stood at 1.55 billion pesos, while operating losses amounted to
280 million pesos. ICA is expected to release details of 300
million dollars in new contracts to be signed before the end of
the month. For this year, the company plans to divest 270 million
dollars in non-core assets and slash its $360 million in short-
term debt by over two thirds. ICA hopes to reduce total
liabilities to $500 million by year's end and cut another $100
million by the end of 2002.




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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