Colombian Gas Transporter Eyes Bond Markets

Colombia’s Promigas is monitoring market conditions as it considers issuing international bonds for the first time. “We have seen appetite for natural gas bonds and are doing due diligence in the market,” Promigas CFO Aquiles Mercado Gonzalez tells LatinFinance. Colombia’s second-largest gas pipeline operator is in dialogue with banks for a possible international deal this year, but has yet to decide on tenor and size. Promigas expects to make advancements on its bond plans late May or September with board approval, Mercado adds. A local market bond sale would also be an option, he says. The official highlights peer Transportadora de Gas Internacional’s (TGI) $750m 10NC5 bond success in March as a reference point for his company. TGI saw $5bn in orders before pricing the 2022s at par with a 5.70% coupon to yield UST+342.6bp. Promigas expects to increase capital investments over the next 3 years by $600m at Promigas and its subsidiaries, which will require debt funding, says Fitch, which has a BBB minus rating for the company. It also has around $300m in debt maturities coming due over the next 2 years, the agency adds. Promigas last sold bonds in the domestic market in August 2009, raising COP400bn ($197m) at various maturities, via Bancolombia. Last year, Corficolombiana, Empresa de Energia de Bogota and 2 private funds acquired a 52.13% stake in Promigas for $789.7m from AEI.