Chilean payroll lender Caja Los Andes has called off a proposed bond sale in the international market as it was unhappy with the pricing being sought by investors during talks last week, according to a source involved in the deal.
“We went to the market, but there was no agreement,” the source said.
“We received good feedback, interest [from investors], but at a price that was not affordable for the client. Banks are extremely price-sensitive and have other alternative sources of financing,” the source said.
Los Andes had been looking to sell five-year bonds in its inaugural international notes offering to pay down short-term market and banking debt, fund social projects and cover other general corporate purposes, according to Fitch and S&P.
The bank also saw the sale as a way of diversifying its sources of funding, but decided not to proceed with the issuance because the pricing was “not at the level they wanted,” the source added.
S&P assigned the proposed notes a BBB rating, while Fitch was expecting to rate it BBB-.
Los Andes raised UF2.1 million ($85.4 million) in a sale of five-year inflation-linked bonds in the local market in April for social loans and also took out a $62 million credit line from SMBC in February for the same purpose.