Grupo Argos raises US$509m in bond sale

Grupo Argos, the parent company of Colombia's leading cement producer Cementos Argos, has raised COP1trn (US$509.4m) in a bond sale on Wednesday that was more than doubly oversubscribed, the company said in a filing to the financial regulator.

Grupo Argos said the issue enabled it to restructure debt which it said would now come due in 6.3 years instead of 1.5 years, a period it said matched its investment needs well.

More than half the bonds sold will come due in 10 or 15 years though others were sold with a lifespan of 2, 3 and 5 years. The conglomerate received offers to buy more than COP2trn in bonds, prompting it to increase the size of the sale to COP1trn instead of a planned COP800bn.

It had received regulatory approval last month to sell up to US$531m in bonds to finance its expansion plans and roll over its existing debt.