Banco de Chile Raises $180m

Banco de Chile has priced a $180m equivalent equity follow-on, at a 1.6% discount to its Wednesday closing price. The bank priced 1.4bn shares at CLP62, for a total of CLP86.8bn ($180m), versus a Wednesday close of CLP63.01. About 35% went to Chilean pension funds, 25% to international institutions, 15% to Chilean institutions, 15% to retail and 10% to other investors. In a research report, IMTrust had said a fair price for the deal would be CLP64.20, and maintains a CLP74.40 12-month target. The transaction comes as part of a 3.4bn share shelf approved at the beginning of the year, and follows 2 weeks of investor meetings. Proceeds are marked for general corporate purposes, mainly growing lending operations. BanChile and LarrainVial managed the sale. Banco de Chile shares closed at CLP65.70 Thursday, up 4.3%.