As January comes to a close, a pair of New York deals - one to finance a new baseball stadium - and a utility offering in the nation's capital are expected to be the largest deals priced in conjunction with an estimated $2.975 billion in new competitive and negotiated volume, according to Thomson Reuters.
Volume has slowed from its more robust pace earlier in the month. Last week, the market saw a revised $1.32 billion in total volume, but there is an estimated $13 billion in 30-day visible supply - $1.32 billion of competitive and $11.68 billion of negotiated - on the horizon, according to Bond Buyer data.
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority's $300 million public utility senior-lien revenue bond offering is the largest long-term deal on the negotiated calendar published by Ipreo. The largest note deal is a $365 million issue from the Indiana Bond Bank slated for negotiated pricing today and rated MIG-1 by Moody's Investors Service and SP1-plus by Standard & Poor's.
The Water and Sewer Authority bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings. Morgan Stanley is slated to price the sale for retail on Tuesday, followed by institutional pricing Wednesday, with a structure that includes serial bonds maturing from 2010 to 2018 with term bonds in 2023, 2028, and 2039, according to the preliminary official statement.
Meanwhile, the New York City Industrial Development Agency will sell $259 million of revenue bonds tomorrow when Goldman, Sachs & Co. prices the offering to help finance the new Yankee Stadium project. Bonds will be insured by Assured Guaranty Corp., and will have underlying ratings of Baa3 from Moody's and BBB-minus from Standard & Poor's.
In addition, New York's Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority will issue $250 million of general revenue bonds on behalf of Metropolitan Transportation Authority bridge and tunnel projects. The Series 2009 A-2 bonds will be priced by Barclays Capital tomorrow with a structure that includes serial bonds maturing from 2010 to 2027 and term bonds maturing in 2029, 2034, and 2038.
The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's, AA-minus by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch.
When the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority priced $645.4 million of revenue debt last Thursday, the final maturity in 2040 carried a 51/2% coupon and was priced at par by senior manager Siebert, Brandford Shank & Co. At the time of the pricing, the final maturity was 45 basis points cheaper than the yield on the Municipal Market Data triple-A scale in 30 years.
In Texas, meanwhile, a $169 million sale of unlimited-tax school building bonds from the Corpus Christi Independent School District is one of a pair of school bond offerings expected this week.
The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA-minus by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch. They are scheduled to be priced today by Merrill, Lynch & Co. with a tentative structure that includes serial bonds maturing from 2010 to 2029 with a term bond in 2034, though the structure was still being finalized by bankers on Friday.
The Round Rock, Tex., Independent School District will also sell GO school building bonds in a $138.8 million deal today that will be priced by RBC Capital Markets LLC. The bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA by Standard & Poor's and mature serially from 2010 to 2028, with a term bond in 2034.
In the California market, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will issue $150 million of Series 2009A water and sewer system revenue bonds when JPMorgan prices the deal tomorrow after conducting a retail order period today. Structured to mature serially from 2016 to 2029, with term bonds in 2034 and 2038, the bonds are expected to be rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
Compared to the New York market, where bonds still yield in excess of 5% on the long end of the yield curve, some parts of the California market have tightened comparatively in recent weeks.
Last week, the San Francisco Unified School District sold double-A-minus GOs that were priced with a final 2024 maturity that carried a 51/4% coupon and was priced to yield 4.71% - 51 basis points cheaper than the yield on triple-A GOs due in 2024, according to MMD.
In the competitive market, meanwhile, the only two sizable deals are a $165 million public improvement revenue bond sale from the Washington Suburban Sanitary District tomorrow and a $101.7 million GO sale from the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado, also expected to be priced tomorrow.
The revenue bond sale is expected to mature from 2009 to 2028 and have natural triple-A ratings from Moody's and Fitch, while the GO sale is expected to mature from 2009 to 2028 and is rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's.
