A slate of new offerings - anchored by a pair of deals from New York and California issuers - is expected in the municipal market this week. While the total is considerable, the size of the deals will be in stark contrast to the multibillion dollar issues the market digested over the past two weeks.
Issuers will bring an estimated $4.67 billion of competitive and negotiated deals, as compared to last week when a revised $4.34 billion came to market, according to Thomson Reuters.
New York City will be the largest deal priced this week when it sells $583 million of general obligation bonds in a deal being senior-managed by Morgan Stanley, and co-managed by Citi, JPMorgan, and Merrill, Lynch & Co.
The city on Friday increased the size of the size of its fixed-rate, new-money bonds by $100 million during the first of a two-day retail order period that began on Friday ahead of tomorrow's official institutional pricing, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
The city's deal also includes $33 million of taxable fixed-rate, new-money bonds, and a $50 million offer of outstanding tax-exempt bonds that are being remarketed and converted from variable-rate to fixed-rate.
Officials decided to increase the size of the tax-exempt, fixed-rate, new-money bonds in the face of an improving market for new issuance. In the retail order period, the city set a top retail yield of 5.50% for the 2031 maturity - 85 basis points higher than generic, triple-A-rated GO debt when compared to the Municipal Market Data yield curve. In 2019, the bonds were set at a 4.52% - 133 basis points above the comparable triple-A MMD scale.
Proceeds of the new-money bonds, which are expected to mature from to 2011 to 2037, will be used to finance the city's ongoing capital improvement program. New York City is rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, AA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.
Elsewhere in New York, the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority will issue $308.8 million of sales tax bonds on Wednesday, following a retail order period tomorrow. The deal, which is being priced by Goldman, Sachs & Co., is structured to mature serially from 2009 to 2025 and is rated Aa2 by Moody's, AAA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-plus by Fitch.
The California State Public Works Board, meanwhile, is planning to sell $434.4 million of lease revenue bonds on Wednesday in a deal being senior-managed by Ramirez & Co. after a two-day retail order period today and tomorrow. Structured as serial bonds maturing between 2010 and 2029, the bonds are rated A3 by Moody's, and A-minus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
The deal consists of $181.6 million of debt for the state's Department of General Services, $107.8 million of debt for the Department of Education, $90.5 million of proceeds for the Department of Developmental Services, and $54.4 million for the Trustees of the California State University.
California's Long Beach Unified School District, meanwhile, is planning to issue $260 million of GO debt tomorrow in a negotiated deal being priced by Piper Jaffray & Co. Structured to mature from 2010 to 2029 with a term bond in 2033, the bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
The city and county of Honolulu is also planning to enter the primary market with $377 million of GO debt being priced on Wednesday by Merrill, Lynch, after a retail order period planned for tomorrow. The three-pronged deal consists of Series A and Series C, which include refunding bonds, as well as Series B, which is taxable. The structure was not yet finalized on Friday because the deal is market sensitive, according to an underwriter.
The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by the two other major rating agencies.
In one of the only other sizable deals this week, the Fairfax Industrial Development Authority is planning to issue $360 million health care revenue bonds on behalf of Inova Health System, a northern Virginia-based nonprofit provide.
The deal, which is being priced by lead manager Citi on Wednesday after tomorrow's retail order period, will be structured to mature serially from 2010 to 2035 and is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's.
In the competitive market, the state of Washington will come to market with a two-pronged sale of GO debt - $441.3 million of various-purpose GOs and $38.2 million of motor vehicle fuel GO bonds - both series of which are structured to mature from 2010 to 2034.
The state of Illinois, downgraded Friday by Moody's to A1, will also sell GO bonds in a $150 million deal tomorrow maturing from 2010 to 2034.
