Colombia

Andean Telecom Partners (ATP), a digital infrastructure provider operating in the Andean region of South America, has begun investor calls ahead of what would be its inaugural bond issue.

Colombian bank GNB Sudameris sold a Basel III-compliant subordinated tier two bond on Tuesday after two failed attempts in 2020. The issuer, which also has operations in Peru and Paraguay, printed $400m of 10-year non-call five paper but only after having rejigged its bank group after last year’s cancellations.

Banco Davivienda is preparing what would be the first additional tier one (AT1) bond issue from Colombia’s banking sector, with the country’s second largest lender having begun investor calls on Monday ahead of a proposed perpetual non-call 10 year Basel-III compliant AT1.

Colombian bank GNB Sudameris held investor calls on Monday ahead of a proposed Basel III-compliant subordinated note that could be priced as soon as Tuesday. This will be GNB’s third attempt to issue in the past year.

Latin American oil and gas company GeoPark may return to bond markets in the near future as it looks to finance a tender offer for up to $255m of its $425m of 6.5% senior unsecured 2024s.

As financial institutions across asset classes raised gender-themed funding this week, Colombia’s vice-president Marta Lucía Ramirez took International Women’s Day as a chance to hail the potential of the sovereign using bond markets to fund its gender equality initiatives.

As Colombia works on the initial stages of developing a social bond framework, the sovereign has identified gender and immigration as two of its key pillars.

Colombia has increased its external funding programme for the year to over $10bn after forecasting a larger 2021 fiscal deficit than it recorded in 2020, exacerbating concerns about the government’s ability to maintain its investment grade credit rating.

Colombian state-owned oil and gas company Ecopetrol said it would issue new debt and equity to fund a proposed takeover of the government’s 51.41% stake in conglomerate ISA (Interconexión Eléctria), should the finance ministry accept its offer.

Colombia’s public credit head told GlobalCapital that the sovereign had wanted to move quickly to get ahead of potential volatility as it printed $2.84bn of new bonds this week as part of a liability management operation. The official said that the early-year sell-off in US Treasuries had not tainted what was a strong issuance window.

Colombia tapped international bond markets for the first time since June this week. But it is the country's domestic bond market — which is 25% owned by foreign investors — that could be in for a particularly notable year, with the sovereign set to turn to pesos for its debut green bond in July. It is also laying the ground for a social bond and a government bond ETF.

Two of Latin America’s most established borrowers, the Colombian sovereign and Brazilian bank Itaú, returned to international bond markets on Tuesday. Though both issues were priced roughly as expected, bankers on and away from the trades said there were signs that Lat Am’s roaring start to 2021 was losing steam.