ICE considers foreign markets for Cariblanco bonds

Costa Rica's state power company ICE is considering auctioning bonds on foreign markets to finance its US$170mn, 82MW Cariblanco hydroelectric project, Cariblanco implementation manager José Miguel Mena told BNamericas. ICE and local bank Banco Nacional created the Cariblanco trust fund in order to issue securities for 100% of the project's costs and it is through the trust fund that bonds on foreign markets would be issued. Banco Nacional executives will study the Panamanian stock market and attend that country's 4th annual investors' conference on April 28, he said. If bonds were to be issued on the Panamanian market, it would not be until mid-year, he added. Trust fund financing is a viable mechanism that will hopefully be used to finance other generation projects, Mena said, adding that markets in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador are also being considered. "The interesting thing here [about entering new markets] is to increase the number of participants that can eventually either buy or sell the bonds. The ultimate goal is to increase the bond's liquidity so that Costa Ricans are not restricted to selling the bonds only on the local market," he said. Cariblanco is being built on the Sarapiquí river in Heredia province. Construction began in November and operations are scheduled to start in October 2007 but the project could come online as soon as end-March 2007, he said. Construction is nearly 30% complete, he added.