Chilean Lender Adds Bonds to Fundraising Plans

Chile’s CorpBanca has scheduled meetings with fixed-income accounts, as it seeks $750m in bond debt to help fund the $1.2bn purchase of Colombia’s Helm Bank agreed in October. Already preparing to price an equity follow-on January 15, the bank is to meet debt investors today in Lima, followed by visits to Los Angeles, London and New York before wrapping up in Boston on Wednesday. Citi and JPMorgan are managing the process, which should result in an SEC-registered deal. The $750m Baa1/BBB+ sale should be for up to 10 years, according to ratings agencies. Both Moody’s and S&P have a negative outlook on the bank’s ratings, due to the financial strain coming from acquiring both Helm and Santander Colombia within a year. Moody’s cites a potential for negative pressure on its financial fundamentals that hinge on the bank’s ability to raise a large amount of capital, though the agency acknowledges CorpBanca’s success in raising capital in the first half of 2012 to finance the Santander buy. CorpBanca is also scheduled to begin meeting equity investors Monday, ahead of the international portion of a follow-on that should eventually top $600m-equivalent. BTG Pactual is managing the equity sale, with Celfin and CorpBanca as co-managers. CorpBanca, Chile’s fifth-largest bank in terms of total loans and deposits, is expected to complete the Helm acquisition in 1Q.