Miner owned by South America’s richest family mulls bond sale

Copper miner Antofagasta Plc is holding meetings with investors this week for its first dollar bond offering in nearly two years, people familiar with the matter said.

Chief financial officer Mauricio Ortiz and other executives started meeting money managers Thursday, according to the people, who requested anonymity because the meetings are private. A 10-year dollar note issuance may follow, they added.

The company “can’t comment on possible market transactions,” a spokesperson for Antofagasta said.

Citigroup and JPMorgan are the global coordinators of the deal, the people said, with BofA Securities, Credit Agricole CIB, Natixis and Scotiabank acting as joint bookrunners.

Antofagasta, which operates copper mines in Chile, last tapped global debt markets in 2022 when it sold $500 million in 10-year bonds. The Luksic family, which owns a controlling stake in the miner, has a fortune of more than $33 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

(By Vinícius Andrade and Maria Elena Vizcaino)