CAF Hones AUD Bond Plans

Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) has wrapped up three days of fixed-income investor meetings in Australia, ahead of what it hopes to be an AUD-denominated bond debut as early as 4Q, CFO Hugo Sarmiento tells LatinFinance. The Venezuela-based development bank spent two days in meetings with fixed-income accounts in Sydney and one day in Melbourne ending last week. CAF is targeting Australian high-grade investors looking for LatAm exposure. “Investor feedback was positive. There is interest in indirect exposure in Latin America via a supranational with preferred creditor status,” Sarmiento says. He declines to discuss any specific goals for size and tenor. He says that pricing is expected to be an exercise in price discovery for AA minus/Aa3/A+ rated CAF, as high-grade Australian investors have mostly invested in AAA supranational paper. A mandate has yet to be decided, though CAF was escorted in Australia by one bank, he adds, declining to identify it. CAF last raised CHF250m ($265m) in new 2020 bonds in Switzerland last week, at a 1.557% yield, which followed a HKD940m ($121m) 2028 private placement in Hong Kong at a 4.27% yield. A deal in Australian dollars would be the second-ever by a LatAm borrower, following Pemex’s AUD150m ($156m) 2017 bond sold in April 2012. The 6.125% coupon Pemex bond priced at a 6.193% yield.