Colombia

The CEO of the Colombian development bank in charge of leading financing for the country’s flagship 4G infrastructure programme told GlobalCapital he was upbeat about progress as he revealed a second international bond related to the programme was in the works.

EIG Global Energy Partners is unlikely to succeed in its second bid to acquire Colombian-Canadian oil firm Pacific Exploration & Production, according to bondholders that have already signed up to a restructuring with private equity firm Catalyst Capital.

Banco de Bogotá’s new subordinated bonds closed higher in the grey market on Monday after the Colombian bank offered a hefty new issue premium that left investors who liked the issuer chuffed at the fact the deal had come on a tough day.

Dutch bank ING is to expand its presence in Colombia as it looks to take advantage of the South American country’s vast infrastructure needs.

Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) is expected to rake in a substantial order book for its first dollar benchmark in over a year, according to bankers close to the deal.

Colombian lender Banco de Bogotá is looking to issue up to $1bn of tier two 10 year notes, although Moody’s said that the bonds will do little to address the bank’s low capital ratio.

Grupo Sura, the owner of the largest pension fund in Latin America and the largest bank in Colombia, raised $550m of 10 year senior unsecured bonds on Tuesday as Latin American high grade corporates finally took advantage of a receptive market.

Some 49% of troubled Canadian-Colombian oil company Pacific Exploration & Production’s creditors, comprising bank lenders and senior noteholders, took just two days to agree to a restructuring proposal presented on Monday evening.

An assortment of borrowers, debt capital market bankers and rating agency officials gathered in Nassau on Friday to discuss the state of play for Latin American bond issuers.

Latin American euro denominated issuance looks here to stay, no matter the arguments made against it by US bankers, after Colombia sold its first bond in the single currency since 2001 on Wednesday.

Colombia on Wednesday became the second Latin American issuer this week to announce a European roadshow, although the sovereign is understood to be still pondering over the currency of its next bond.

Colombia’s sovereign bonds closed tighter on the day on Tuesday despite lower oil prices driving Standard & Poor’s to place the government’s BBB credit rating on negative outlook.