Chile is set to return to the international market with the sale of social bonds in order to fund a tender offer and eligible projects, a source familiar with the deal told LatinFinance.
The Chilean government began calling investors on Wednesday to pitch the peso-denominated notes and has hired Citi, Itaú BBA and Santander as joint bookrunners on the Rule 144A/Reg S offering the source said.
A portion of the proceeds will go to fund eligible social projects under its sustainable bond framework and the remainder will fund the buyback, the source added.
Concurrently, Chile announced an offer to repurchase four sets of notes with a total of CLP10.3 trillion ($11.3 billion) of principal outstanding. The sovereign is offering to buy back its 2.5% 2025, 4.5% 2026 bonds, 2.3% 2028 and 2.8% 2033 notes, it said Wednesday in a press release.
The country expects to announce the purchase price for each series of notes by Friday, the release said.
Citi, Itaú BBA and Santander are also the dealer managers on the buyback offering.
Chile raised $1.75 billion in the sale of five-year social bonds in the international market in January to fund education and food security projects among others.
The Finance Ministry said in January that it expected to issue up to $16.5 billion in bonds this year, of which around 90% would be in the local currency.