Promerica Financial Corporation (PFC) announces its US$200,000,000 bond issuance in the international capital markets. This is Promerica’s first transaction of this type, and was documented under New York law and registered in Luxemburg Stock Exchange.

Promerica is among the few financial institutions in the region that has successfully placed debt in international capital markets. The bonds have a 6-year maturity, and were issued under 144A format, Regulation S of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for qualified institutional investors.

Following the roadshow with investors in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, London, Geneva and Zurich, the issuance was oversubscribed. The deal was structured by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, two of the largest and most prestigious financial institutions in the world, acting as Joint Bookrunners, while Banco General of Panama and BLADEX acted as co-Managers for the transaction.

The bonds, as well as the issuer, have an international rating of B+/Stable by Standard & Poor´s (S&P), and of BB-/Outlook Stable by FitchRatings, two of the top rating agencies in the world. S&P indicated that “the rating reflects the company’s business stability, business line diversification, sound market shares in the region, stable asset quality metrics, and low-cost funding structure primarily composed of retail deposits.” Likewise, the rating agency indicated that “PFC’s expanding deposit base indicates the loyalty of its customer base.”

For Ramiro Ortiz Mayorga, Promerica’s Chairman and CEO, the issuance represents a transformational moment for the organization, “because it projects Promerica as an international financial institution, with the comparative advantage that only a few financial institutions in the region have, which is having access to global capital markets”, indicated Ortiz. “This successful bond placement is also an important recognition to our top management, both at the subsidiary and regional levels. This transaction reflects the effort, dedication and team work of our executives”, said Ortiz.

Francisco Martinez, CFO of Promerica pointed out “that the sale represents a milestone in Promerica’s history, evidencing the organization’s credibility and prestige.” The top executive also said “that the ability of Promerica to access international capital markets means that it can now obtain funding from large institutional investors from the United States and Europe.”

PFC is a bank holding company domiciled in Panama, authorized to operate and supervised by the Superintendencia de Bancos de Panama. The company has consolidated assets of US$14.0 billion, deposits of US$10.6 billion and capital of US$1.3 billion. PFC is the majority shareholder in commercial banks in nine countries in Central, South America, and the Caribbean, and it is the third largest financial institution in the region. Among important recent transactions are the acquisition of Produbanco in 2015, the second largest bank in Ecuador, and the banking operations of Citibank in Guatemala in 2016.

November 14, 2018