Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s main stock exchange is seeking more foreign listings after Canada’s Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. and Greystar Resources Ltd. applied to list shares in the Andean nation, said bourse president Juan Pablo Cordoba.

Greystar, which plans to invest $1 billion to explore for gold and silver in Colombia, and Pacific Rubiales may look to finance investments in the country by selling shares locally, Cordoba said in an interview in Bogota. Toronto-based Pacific Rubiales, which operates oil fields part-owned by state- controlled producer Ecopetrol SA, may begin trading already- issued shares by next week, according to Cordoba.

“What’s being achieved with Pacific Rubiales is a very important step toward the globalization of the Colombian market,” said Cordoba, president of Bolsa de Valores de Colombia SA. “We’re very focused on linking Colombia more to international markets.”

As the global recession eases, the exchange is seeking to attract more international capital through foreign listings and new products such as derivatives based on the Colcap Index, which gained 50 percent this year.

The central bank’s eight interest-rate cuts since December are increasing speculation that consumer demand will recover, underpinning a second-half rebound in economic growth. South America’s fourth-largest economy went into a recession for the first time since 1998 when gross domestic product fell 1.1 percent in the last three months of 2008, followed by contractions in the first two quarters of 2009.

Derivatives Trading

Cordoba also expects greater investment as Colombia, Chile and Peru work toward integrating their exchanges by the end of 2010 or early 2011.

The Colcap derivatives should begin trading in the first quarter of 2010, while futures tied to shares of Ecopetrol and Bancolombia SA, the country’s biggest bank, should be available this year, Cordoba said.

“This will give investors more diversified exposure to Colombia,” Cordoba said.

The Bolsa also plans to create a platform for trading foreign stocks and bonds locally without having to list them on the Colombian exchange, Cordoba said.

Colombia hasn’t had any initial public offerings since Helm Bank raised 250 billion pesos ($120 million) in December 2007. Biomax Biocombustibles SA, a Bogota-based fuel distributor, yesterday said it plans to offer new shares in March or April with the proceeds used to finance growth.

Federico Restrepo, vice president of corporate affairs for Pacific Rubiales, didn’t immediately return phone and e-mail messages left after office hours, and calls to the company’s Toronto office were unanswered.

Greystar

“The company does not anticipate making an offering in conjunction with these listings,” the company said last month in a statement distributed through Canada NewsWire.

Pacific Rubiales shares have jumped more than fivefold this year on the Toronto stock exchange, while those of Greystar gained 147 percent.

“Financing is not being contemplated with the initial listing,” said Geoff Chater, Greystar’s vice president of corporate development. “But certainly in the future if we need to raise money in the form of equity or debt, which we will, would we turn to Colombian investors? Absolutely.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Cuadros in Bogota at acuadros@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 30, 2009 09:53 EDT