CorpBanca Holdco Moves Toward DCM

CorpBanca’s holding company Corp Group Banking plans to hold investor calls Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of a likely bond sale, according to people familiar with the process. The holding company is seeking $500m in senior unsecured 10-year bonds, according to Moody’s, which has assigned a Ba3 rating with negative outlook. Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are managing. The issuer chose to have calls rather than a full road show. Corp Group’s subsidiary CorpBanca visited accounts before printing earlier this month a $800m DCM debut, pricing a 3.125% 2018 bond at a 3.240% yield. It then raised $160m-equivalent in the international portion of an equity follow-on, and should raise more than $600m once the entire process is complete. Moody’s notes the refinancing risks inherent in the group’s strategy of increasingly financing its acquisitions with debt alongside ongoing capital support from its controlling and other shareholders. The group’s high growth profile and cross border acquisition strategy, as demonstrated by the purchase of two banks in Colombia, add a level of uncertainty to the company’s future cash flows, it adds. As of September, Corp Group Banking and its subsidiaries reported total assets of $28bn and total net equity of $2.6bn.