EPM eyes foreign debt issue

Colombia’s EPM, the country’s top public services company, said on
Tuesday it is preparing to issue foreign debt for the first time
between August and September as part of its international expansion
strategy.

Federico Restrepo, EPM’s director told the Reuters Latin American
Investment that the company was authorized to issue up to $500 million
in debt and he saw opportunities to seek out water and energy providers
and assets from multinationals operating in Latin America.

“These resources will go in part to our strategy of growing
internationally, to have funds available for possible acquisitions,”
Restrepo said.

EPM or Empresas Publicas de Medellin, is the country’s second
largest non financial company with consolidated earnings of more than $3
billion a year.

Restrepo said the global financial crisis was creating buying opportunities with assets now at better value.

“The crisis in Colombia has not affected us at the level of the
company’s performance and in fact it has generated opportunities,” he
said.

Restrepo did not give details, but said he saw opportunities in
energy distribution and generation, water suppliers and expressed
interest in markets in Brazil, Central America and Peru.

“Today, investing in existing companies gives much more margin for profitability than a green field project,” he said.

“We are interested in markets closer to us, that we know well, that
are property of multinational firms, and not necessarily of Latin
American countries,” he said.

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