University of California Sets $800M in $5.15B Calendar

An $800 million sale of general revenue bonds from the University of California Regents will kick off the activity in the primary market and will be part of an estimated $5.15 billion in total negotiated and competitive sales planned for pricing this week, according to Thomson Reuters.

The University of California deal is the largest of the week and is expected to be priced Thursday, following a retail order period on Wednesday by senior book-runner Barclays Capital.

The deal consists of three series of bonds, one of which is taxable. The preliminary structure was for fixed rate bonds maturing from 2010 to 2039. The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service and AA by Standard & Poor's.

Last week, $457.8 million of revenue bonds from the California State University Trustees were priced by Barclays with a final 2040 maturity that carried a 6% coupon and a yield of 5.50% - 64 basis points cheaper than the 30-year triple-A GO scale published by Municipal Market Data.

A $287 million sale of water system revenue bonds is also on tap from the California Department of Water Resources tomorrow when Morgan Stanley prices the offering on behalf of the Central Valley project. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's and AAA by Standard & Poor's, but the structure of the deal was not available by press time.

A handful of financings in the Northeast - including two large deals out of Pennsylvania- will add to the volume that has been increasing in the region in recent weeks.

The University of Pittsburgh will issue $435 million of higher education debt, which consists of Series A refunding bonds, and Series B capital project bonds in a structure of serial and term bonds.

The deal, which has ratings of Aa2 from Moody's and AA from Standard & Poor's, is expected to be priced by Barclays tomorrow, following a retail order period today. The structure will include fixed rate bonds with maturities from 2010 to 2031.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania will market $300 million of general obligation bonds competitively tomorrow with a structure that include bonds maturing from 2010 to 2029. The state's GOs are rated Aa2 by Moody's, AA by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch Ratings.

The Northeast activity will continue in the District of Columbia with a $445 million sale of personal income tax revenue bonds expected to be priced by Merrill Lynch & Co. tomorrow. Rated Aa2 by Moody's, AAA by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch, the bonds are structured as $135 million of revenue refunding bonds maturing from 2020 to 2027 and $310 million of new money maturing from 2010 to 2029 with a term in 2034.

The New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. will also issue personal income tax revenue bonds when Citi prices its $242 million offering tomorrow with bonds structured to mature from 2009 to 2028. A total of $214.7 million of the deal consists of tax-exempt debt, and $26.9 million is taxable. The bonds are rated AAA by Standard & Poor's and AA-minus by Fitch,.

New York paper has been getting snapped up in the new-issue market lately at relatively attractively yields, as evidenced by a $454.7 million sale of New York State GO bonds in the primary market last week.

The deal offered a final maturity in 2039 with a 5% coupon repriced down three basis points from the preliminary scale to yield 5.24%, which is attractive when compared to 30-year bonds at 4.86% on MMD's generic, triple-A GO scale at the time.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is planning to issue $350 million of highway user tax revenue bonds that are expected to be priced by Banc of America Securities LLC on Wednesday. Structured to mature from 2010 to 2039, the bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's, AAA by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch.

Two deals from Tennessee issuers are also being planned in the Southeast this week.

The largest of the pair is a $330 million sale of refunding bonds from Vanderbilt University, which is earmarked for pricing Thursday by Merrill with three term bonds in 2019, 2029, 2039.

In addition, Shelby County, Tenn., is anticipating a sale of $235 million of GO public improvement and school refunding bonds to be priced by Morgan Keegan & Co. on Thursday. The bonds are structured to mature serially from 2010 to 2022. They are rated Aa2 by Moody's, AA-plus by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch.

One of the only other large deals this week will be $203.8 million of GO bonds from Miami-Dade County on behalf of the Building Better Communities projects.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is planning to price the offering on Thursday, following a retail order period on Wednesday with a structure that includes serial and term bonds but the final structure was not yet determined at press time. Moody's rates the county's GO debt Aa3 and Standard & Poor's rates it AA-minus.

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