The primary market will see a skimpy sampling of moderately sized deals this week as new-issue volume dips to $3.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters, and the municipal market slows to a snail's pace in the last full week of trading activity before the Labor Day hiatus.
Last week, the market saw a revised $4.92 billion of new-issue volume, according to Thomson. Activity slowly begins to resume next week when a $492 million Florida Municipal Power Agency revenue offering is slated to come to the negotiated market.
In the meantime, a $362.7 million New York State Thruway Authorityrevenue offering will lead off the negotiated activity when Merrill Lynch & Co. prices the issue this Wednesday. The bonds are tentatively structured to mature from 2009 to 2038, according to the preliminary official statement, and the state personal income tax revenue bonds are rated AAA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.
Supply in the Southeast will center on two negotiated issues and one competitive sale, beginning with a $343.7 million Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority revenue offering.
The sale is expected to be priced by Goldman, Sachs& Co.either tomorrow or Wednesday and will carry insurance from Assured Guaranty Corp. - despite being postponed for a month by officials who were worried about negative implications after Moody's put the insurer on watch for a possible downgrade as a result of ongoing risks in the financial guarantor market.
The deal will still be insured by Assured - except for the subordinate bonds.
The multi-faceted deal is structured to include $284.4 million of Subseries 2008 A-1 fixed-rate bonds, $29.3 million of Subseries 2008A-2 capital appreciation bonds, $15.5 million of Series 2008B taxable fixed-rate bonds, and $14.5 million of taxable subordinate Series 2008C fixed-rate bonds.
The bonds mature out to 2042, but the exact details of the structure were not yet available at press time on Friday. Proceeds are being sold on behalf of the Louisville Arena project, which, when completed, will be a 22,000-seat, multi-use facility with the University of Louisville men's and women's basketball team as the primary tenant.
Elsewhere in the region, two North Carolina issuers are making an appearance.
Charlotte, N.C., is slated to issue $339.4 million of water and sewer revenue bonds when Banc of America SecuritiesLLC prices its deal on Wednesday, following a retail order period tomorrow.
The deal, which has ratings of Aa1 from Moody's and natural AAA ratings from Standard & Poor's and Fitch, is structured to mature serially from 2010 to 2028 with term maturities in 2033 and 2038.
In addition, Forsyth County, N.C., is slated to issue a three-pronged general obligation offering in the competitive market tomorrow that totals $119.5 million and has natural triple-A ratings from Moody's and Fitch.
The largest series in the deal consists of $80 million of GO school bonds which mature serially from 2010 to 2027, followed by a $28.4 million GO refunding series that matures serially from 2009 to 2016, and a $11.1 million series of GO public improvement bonds that are expected to mature from 2010 to 2027.
The refunding series will be used for current and advanced refunding purposes, while the new-money proceeds will finance various improvements at schools, parks, recreational facilities, court facilities, and public health facilities.
Other activity, meanwhile, will turn investors' attention to the education sector where a sizable two-pronged offering is on tap in the Golden State.
The Palo Alto Unified School District will issue a total of $280.2 million of GO debt in the competitive market tomorrow that is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AAA by Standard & Poor's. The larger series consists of $269.7 million of serial bonds maturing from 2015 to 2033, while the remainder of the deal includes $10.5 million of serial bonds that mature from 2010 to 2014.
