Enap Turns to Loan Market

Chilean state owned oil and gas company Enap has sent out RFPs as it seeks to raise $500m through loans with 3 and 5-year tenors, say market participants. Submission deadlines have passed, but banks expect a response as soon as next week. The company was considering the loan market as early as last year, but opted instead to issue a US$500m 10-year bond which was priced in August at 99.593 with a 5.250% coupon to yield 5.300%, or UST plus 240bp, inside of the 250bp (+/-5bp) guidance. Demand for the paper reached a healthy US$2.5bn despite a downgrade that year. BofA Merrill Lynch, BBVA, BNP and Scotia managed the bond sale.