Bancolombia Closer to Follow-on

Bancolombia has approved a plan under which it can sell 110m preferred shares in the domestic market, it says. A sale at the maximum size would raise COP2.72trn ($1.41bn) at Monday’s COP24,740 closing price. It is unclear if the sale would be approved by regulators in time to happen this year, and CEO Carlos Raul Yepes told LatinFinance in September that the bank would consider new equity only in 2014. Shareholders approved in March a platform to sell up to $2.4bn in preferred shares through multiple transactions. Bancolombia is looking to raise funds to help finance expansion plans and comply with new global banking regulations. The bank agreed to buy HSBC’s assets in Panama for $2.1bn earlier this year. Its most recent equity deal was a $900m follow-on earlier last year.