| Jorge Andres Tabares (EPM) |
Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM) may tap the international markets in the second half of the year to finance an ambitious investment plan, the company’s chief financial officer told LatinFinance.
The Colombian utility group needs to raise funds that will be used to finance its capex and international growth, and could resort to loans as well as local and international bonds, said Jorge Andres Tabares.
“We just issued in the local market and we are considering the possibility of going to the [capital] markets again in the second half, probably to the cross-border market. Yet, the decision will be taken depending on where a window opens,” he told LatinFinance.
The executive said there is strong appetite for EPM’s debt among local as well as international investors which would allow the company to tap either market.
EPM aims to broaden its international investor in the US and Europe, he said. “As well as attending events to meet investors, we are planning to host our own event, most likely in New York in the third quarter of the year. We aim to introduce ourselves to investors and provide a clear idea about the company’s opportunities and risks,” Tabares said.
EPM has been quite active in the bond markets in recent months. The group raised COP630bn ($240m) through a triple-tranche bond sale and a reopening of a 2023 note in late March, and it sold a 7.625% $500m-equivalent 2024 global-peso bond in September, after drawing $2bn of orders.
The utility company has also been expanding regionally. It bought assets in Chile and in Brazil last month. LF