Tocumen creates investor trust after Waked fallout

THE FALLOUT from the Waked family scandal and alleged money laundering activities   linked to drug smuggling has already  forced Tocumen, S.A. to raise interest rates on its $575 million bond issue placed in the international market May 13, now,   to maintain the confidence of investors.it has  had to strengthen the guarantees that support the issue.

The accusations about Waked international, S.A. (Wisa), by the U.S. Department of the Treasury of caused uncertainty among investors, since the group, owned by Abdul Waked, generates 7.7 percent of the  revenues from the terminal. In a note addressed to investors, Tocumen says that any revenue loss from the Wakeds would be guaranteed by revenues generated from advertising and parking fees.

The United States has accused Wisa of money laundering for drug traffickers. The inclusion of Abdul and Nidal Waked and their companies on the Clinton list has made it difficult for the companies to process financial transactions and to engage in business with suppliers.

Already revenues of Wisa shops at the airport have been  dramatically affected, because, among other things, they cannot receive credit card payments. This, in turn, will affect revenues for Tocumen.

Although the airport administration believes that the contributions generated by Wisa will not disappear entirely, it has already included other revenue streams in its projections.

The Waked issue delayed the bond issue, which had been scheduled for $625 million. The airport reduced the size of the issue to $575 million and has to pay a higher interest rate due to the uncertainty.

To maintain the confidence of investors, Tocumen has pledged to transfer revenue from advertising and parking fees to a trust that would be used to pay investors. This trust generated some $4.5 million in revenue in 2015.