By Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run bank Banco da Amazonia BAZA3.SA is looking both at equity and debt markets to raise fresh capital to expand its credit portfolio, Investor Relations Officer Fabio Maeda told Reuters.
A decision on which path to take has not yet been made as the bank, whose loan book has been growing at an average rate of close to 15% a year, is not in a hurry to raise the new funding, Maeda said.
Basa - as the lender is also known - has since the beginning of the second half been studying the equity market to potentially seek a follow-on share offering of about 2 billion reais ($350 million).
While already listed, Basa currently has a free float of only 3% and a market cap of around 5 billion reais.
The bank initially hired UBS Brasil and most recently tapped other four banks - Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, XP Investimentos and Caixa Economica Federal - to analyze the potential share sale.
"The banks are still evaluating scenarios of offering equity, debt or both, and the timing and size of a potential transaction have not yet been set," said Maeda, noting that an eventual share sale does not exclude the option of a debt offer.
Basa, created in 1942, was initially focused on financing rubber production. Later, it expanded its activities to industry, trade, agriculture and others in the Amazon region.
Maeda said the COP30 United Nations climate change conference to be held in Brazil in 2025 may be a catalyst for investor interest, as the bank's credit portfolio is concentrated on clients and activities in Northern Brazil.
The summit will be held in Belem, one of the largest cities in the region.
(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by Jan Harvey)
((Luciana.NovaesMagalhaes@thomsonreuters.com;))
