Arauco Pays Handsome Fee

Chile’s Arauco paid $7.7m in underwriting fees for its $500m 2019 bond issue priced Wednesday, according to a term sheet. The amount translates to about 1.54%, putting it closer to a US high yield commission than a LatAm high grade. The BBB/Baa2/BBB minus rated producer of pulp and wood products priced at 98.910 with a 7.250% coupon to yield 7.406%, or UST+387.5bp, the tight end of UST+400bp area guidance. The sale saw $2.5bn in demand. JPMorgan managed the sale, with BBVA and Santander as passive bookrunners.