Ecopetrol Foreign Equity Tranche on Ice (1)

Following a smash hit local equity issue, Colombia’s Ecopetrol will not be tapping the international equity or debt markets for at least another eight months. It may wait even longer, Julio Torres, Colombia’s head of public credit and an Ecopetrol board member, tells LatinFinance. The national oil company sold over 10% of its stock to raise more than $3.3bn in the first scheduled round of equity offerings. It was originally expected to follow on with a second local deal and then an international sale to foreigners. But the first offering was so well bid that the company achieved its financing target in the first round, precluding the need for further raises. Now that it has raised the cash, the next logical step will be to issue debt. But such an offering would also be several months away, says Torres. Others familiar with the issuer say that its accounts are months – if not years – away from conforming to international standards. Bancolombia led the local offering and Credit Suisse and JPMorgan were slated to underwrite the international portion. Merrill Lynch and Citi were valuation advisors.