Colombia Extends Meetings

Colombia’s meetings with fixed-income investors spilled into this week, as issuers continue to monitor the markets for a window to issue, according to bankers on the deal. “We are meeting with more investors today and sensing the market but there is no deal as of yet,” one of the bankers says. With the sovereign’s new investment-grade status, the government is expected to take the opportunity to appeal to a broader set of investors amid expectations that it will soon tap the international capital markets. The sovereign is now rated Baa3/BBB minus/BBB minus by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. Colombian markets were closed Monday due to a holiday, but investor talks continued. “The republic is going to find a window [in which] they like to issue but they are in no rush to do so,” says another banker. The sovereign met with fixed-income investors last week on a non-deal roadshow that took it to Los Angeles, New York, Boston and London. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Citi led meetings. For 2012, the government foresees $4.363bn in external financing. Of that, $3bn is expected to be raised in the external markets, with the rest coming from multilateral and other sources.