Puerto Rico, L.A. County Lead Pack With Huge Deals

A pair of deals, one several billion dollars and one nearly a billion, will share the spotlight in the primary market this week as an estimated $11.4 billion in total new-issue volume is expected, according to The Bond Buyer and Ipreo LLC. The mammoth offerings will almost double last week's volume, which was revised to $6.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

The largest deal of the week is a $3.5 billion Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. sales tax revenue issue, followed by a $900 million Los Angeles County tax and revenue anticipation one-year note sale that was postponed from last week.

Although the note deal was delayed in order for officials to assess how California's $24 billion budget gap would affect the county's finances, underwriters at Merrill, Lynch & Co. could not pin down which day this week the notes would be priced.

In Puerto Rico, the financing corporation plans to sell its revenue debt on Wednesday, following a two-day retail order period today and tomorrow led by senior book-runner Citi. The multi-faceted structure consists of current interest serial bonds maturing from 2014 to 2020, term bonds in 2024, 2039, 2042 and 2044, capital appreciation bonds from 2021 to 2036, and conversion bonds due from 2017 to 2022 and in 2040.

The Puerto Rico bonds are rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service, A-plus by Standard & Poor's, and A by Fitch Ratings.

The state of Hawaii, meanwhile, will sell $626 million of new-money and refunding GO bonds in a Citi-led deal slated to price tomorrow after a two-day retail order period on Friday and Monday.

The $400 million GOs in Series DQ will mature from 2013 to 2029, while the $226.5 million GO refunding in Series DR is slated to mature from 2014 to 2019.

The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch. Last week Fitch revised its outlook on the debt to negative from stable due to weak revenues.

Besides the Los Angeles County sale in the short-term market, Piper Jaffray & Co. plans to price a two-pronged financing from the California School Cash Reserve Program Authority on Wednesday totaling at least $518 million. Details on the structure were not available Friday.

Back in the long-term market, three of the week's other sizable deals are from Northeast issuers, the largest of which is a $500 million New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority second general resolution revenue bond sale.

Rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA-plus by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch, the water authority issue is scheduled to be priced by M.R. Beal & Co. tomorrow after a retail order period planned for today, and consists of serials from 2024 to 2032 and terms in 2035 and 2040.

The deal's solid credit and the issuer's visible name should be selling points, according to Jay Alpert, executive vice president of trading and underwriting at M.R. Beal.

"It will be a good test for the market and the timing is good because there have been inflows into bond funds and it's a coupon month," Alpert said. "The market has some critical mass to get through next week with the Treasury financing, but I do think there is money designated for higher-quality credits."

The New York Thruway Authority will also test the market with a $425.6 million sale of revenue bonds tomorrow, following a retail order period today by book-runner RBC Capital Markets LLC. The bonds are slated to mature serially from 2010 to 2029.

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority will sell $372.9 million of Series 2009 special tax revenue refunding bonds. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is planning to conduct a retail order period today followed by an official pricing tomorrow. The bonds, whose proceeds will refund the authority's outstanding 1999 debt, are rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA by Standard & Poor's, and A-plus by Fitch.

The Kansas Development Finance Authority is planning to sell $333.8 million of hospital revenue debt on behalf of Adventist Health System/Sunbelt Obligated Group on Wednesday in a deal being priced by Ziegler Capital Markets LLC.

Comprised of serial bonds maturing from 2010 to 2024 and term bonds in 2029, 2034, and 2039, the offering is expected to carry ratings of A1 from Moody's, A-plus from Standard & Poor's, and AA-minus by Fitch.

Meanwhile, the Texas Water Development Board has plans to sell a two-pronged offering of GO refunding bonds totaling $325.7 million. JPMorgan will price the bonds tomorrow with a structure that consists of Series C bonds maturing from 2010 to 2029 and term bonds in 2034 and 2039, as well as Series C bonds maturing from 2020 to 2029 and a term bond in 2039.

The Texas bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody's, AA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-plus by Fitch.

A pair of deals that contain Build America Bonds will round out the week's activity in Nevada and New Jersey.

Clark County, Nev., will sell limited-tax GO bonds in a two-pronged negotiated deal being priced by Merrill Lynch tomorrow.

The larger portion consists of $169 million of debt, which is divided into $25 million of Series A tax-exempt bonds maturing in 2009, 2010, 2016 and 2017, and $144 million of BABs in the Series B taxable portion, which matures from 2011 to 2038.

The county will also sell a $60 million series of transportation revenue bonds separated in $55 million of Series B-1 BABs maturing from 2012 to 2019, with term bonds in 2024 and 2029, as well as $4 million Series B-2 tax-exempt short-term serial bonds, but the exact structure that that series was being decided on Friday. The bonds are Aa1 by Moody's and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's.

In addition, the South Jersey Transportation Authority is planning to issue BABs as part of its overall $188 million, four-pronged sale of revenue bonds. It's expected to be priced by Merrill tomorrow.

Rated A3 by Moody's, A-minus by Standard & Poor's, and BBB-plus by Fitch, the deal consists of four series of bonds, of which Series 2009 A-5 will be taxable BABs that maturing in 2038.

Of the three remaining portions of the deal, Series A-1 will consist of tax-exempt senior transportation system revenue bonds tentatively structured to mature from 2010 to 2038. Structures for the Series A-2 tax-exempt senior transportation bonds and Series 2009 subordinated transportation revenue bonds were not available on Friday, according to Merrill.

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