Municipal issuers this week will unveil several large deals — anchored by a $900 million Pennsylvania general obligation offering — on the heels of last week’s equally hefty post-holiday slate.
Issuers are expected to sell $9.16 billion of long-term debt this week, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer. That is more than the revised $6.27 billion that greeted investors last week after they returned from the long holiday hiatus, according to Thomson Reuters.
The Pennsylvania deal is expected to sell competitively on Wednesday with a structure that includes $604.1 million of taxable Build America Bonds maturing from 2020 to 2030, and $295.8 million of tax-exempt GO refunding bonds maturing from 2011 to 2019.
The proceeds will be used to fund various capital facilities projects and environmental initiatives. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA by Standard & Poor’s and by Fitch Ratings.
The negotiated calendar is also rife with large deals this week, including a multifaceted sale totaling $773 million from Chicago that is expected to be priced by Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. on Wednesday.
It will follow a retail order period for the tax-exempt series and indications of interest in the taxable series, both scheduled for tomorrow.
The deal consists of $420 million of tax-exempt GO project and refunding bonds, $110 million of taxable project and refunding GO bonds, $110 million of taxable project GO bonds that are designated as direct-pay BABs, and $133 million of traditional taxable GO project bonds, which are recovery zone economic development bonds, according to the preliminary official statement.
The tax-exempt bonds are expected to mature serially from 2018 to 2033, the traditional taxable bonds are tentatively set to mature in 2031, the BABs are expected to mature in 2036, and the economic RZEDBs are tentatively structured to mature in 2040, according to Sherman Swanson, managing director of underwriting at Siebert.
He said the week’s slate, including the Chicago deal, should fare well given the strong demand for last week’s new financings. “It seems like the deals did fairly well, but this week will be the bigger test,” Swanson said.
The Chicago bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA by Fitch. Siebert had not yet received a rating confirmation for the new deal from Standard & Poor’s as of press time.
Last week, the market was flush with BABs, including an $850 million sale from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority that included $357.9 million of BABs, as well as $350 million of BABs from New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The week also saw a $3.47 billion Illinois taxable GO sale to fund the state’s pension obligations,
This week, Arizona is slated to sell $733 million of certificates of participation in a negotiated deal being senior-managed by Morgan Stanley on Wednesday. Proceeds are being used to help raise cash for the financially strapped state.
The deal will test the waters for the Arizona COPs after they were downgraded in December to A2 from A1 by Moody’s and to A-plus from AA-minus by Standard & Poor’s. The debt will be secured by lease payments made by the state. Proceeds will be used to raise cash for a school aid payment due in February.
The details regarding the deal’s structure were unavailable at press time on Friday.
Meanwhile, a $600 million sale of aviation revenue bonds is expected to be issued by Miami-Dade County when Citi prices the deal on Wednesday following a retail order period tomorrow.
The deal is rated A2 by Moody’s, A by Standard & Poor’s, and A-minus by Fitch. It is structured to mature serially from 2010 to 2030 with term bonds in 2035 and 2041.
The Lower Colorado River Authority will also make an appearance this week with $424.8 million of revenue refunding bonds.
Barclays Capital will price the offering on Thursday following a two-day retail order period beginning tomorrow. The bonds are rated A1 by Moody’s, A by Standard & Poor’s, and A-plus by Fitch.
In the Northeast, both the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority and the New York Transitional Finance Authority will each sell deals totaling $400 million.
The Massachusetts issue consists of revenue debt that has natural triple-A ratings from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s being sold on behalf of Harvard University and being priced by Barclays on Wednesday.
A retail order period could possibly take place tomorrow ahead of the official pricing. The structure of the deal was still being discussed at press time, according to the firm.
The New York TFA deal is expected to be priced by JPMorgan on Wednesday in two series of tax-exempt, fixed-rate, future tax-secured subordinate revenue bonds. Series D consists of $340 million and Series E consists of $60 million. Both series are tentatively structured to mature from 2010 to 2025, according to the POS.
Ahead of the official pricing, the bonds will be offered to retail investors in a two-day retail order period beginning today. Moody’s rates the TFA’s subordinate bonds Aa2, Standard & Poor’s rates the credit AAA, and Fitch rates it AA-plus.
Elsewhere in the region, the New Jersey Higher Education Assistance Authority will enter the market with $338 million of revenue bonds on Wednesday after a retail order period tomorrow led by senior manager Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The deal is structured with serial bonds maturing from 2011 to 2019 and term bonds expected in 2022, 2025, 2028, 2032, and 2037.
In the Midwest, the Indiana Finance Authority is planning to sell $350 million of revenue debt when B of A Merrill prices the deal tomorrow after it was postponed back in November due to market conditions.
The IFA now expects to save around $15 million by refunding the bonds this week, according to authority officials.
The firm decided to enhance its retail marketing efforts and will hold a retail order period today for the deal after the authority saw strong retail demand for its $138.9 million new-money offering of state revolving fund bonds back in November.
Structured to mature serially from 2014 to 2024, the bonds are state revolving fund refunding bonds and are rated triple-A by all three rating agencies.
