CAF Returns to Colombia Debt

CAF has returned to Colombia’s local market with an oversubscribed bond issue at apparently attractive levels. It issued Tuesday COP245bn ($110m) total, split between an 11.25% of 2013 and an 11.79% of 2018. Pricing was equivalent to 65bp over TES, Gabriel Felpeto, CAF’s director of financial policies and international issues tells LatinFinance. Other Triple As priced recently at 100bp-120bp over TES and 65bp was in line with the target, he adds. “We are very happy with the transaction given the environment,” says Felpeto, who adds that it was 2.4x subscribed. Some 50 investors participated, including pension funds, insurance companies, banks and asset managers. The deal through BBVA was the debut from a COP1trn 3-year CAF program and the first from the multilateral since 2004. This week’s issue was geared at boosting Colombia’s domestic market, but Felpeto says it was also attractive in terms of price, at just 5% equivalent coupon in dollars. “We were asked by the ministry of finance to issue in that market. They need some more issuers to help investors diversify,” says the official. The offer was not rated locally, but based on the international grading, the offer would have been a Triple A.