Colombia’s third largest bank, Davivienda, may sell 10-year dollar bonds “as soon as this week”, according to the U.S. financial network Bloomberg.
An anonymous source told Bloomberg that the bonds would be sold in a benchmark offering, which usually means at least $500 million. Credit Suisse Group AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are managing the sale.
Bogota-based Davivienda is selling the bonds for the first time on the international market to take “advantage of falling overseas financing costs,” as investors are buying higher-rated emerging market bonds in the face of the Eurozone’s sovereign crisis, wrote Bloomberg.
Davivienda has also expressed interest in selling American depositary receipts (ADRs) in the near future.
Felipe Campos, head analyst at Alianza Valores brokerage in Bogota said, “Its an ideal time to be selling bonds. There’s a lot of appetite for emerging-market bonds. It also gives investors a chance to get to know Davivienda before it offers ADRs.”
Davivienda was rated the lowest level of investment grade by Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
