Municipal bond volume will jump to the most in four weeks as a Missouri transportation financing and a Connecticut general obligation offering vie for attention as this week's largest deals.
These and other issues are expected to bring a total of $5.74 billion of long-term new deals to the primary market, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer, up from a revised $4.98 billion last week as reported by Thomson Reuters. Original estimates for last week called for $5.14 billion.
The estimated $894 million Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission financing will arrive in the negotiated market on Tuesday, following a one-day retail order period on Monday.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch will price the deal, which is backed by pledged revenues, as $581.98 million of first-lien refunding state road bonds maturing from 2017 to 2026 in Series A, and $312.47 million second-lien refunding state road bonds maturing from 2018 to 2025 in Series B.
Series A is rated triple-A by all three major rating agencies, while Series B is rated Aa1 by Moody's, AAA by Standard & Poor's and AA-plus by Fitch.
Connecticut will issue $650 million of its GO refunding debt in a negotiated deal led by Morgan Stanley & Co. on Wednesday, following a retail order period on Monday and Tuesday.
Rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA by S&P and Fitch, the bonds will consist of a serial structure. The exact maturities were not available at press time.
"Both deals will see significant demand due to the low overall level of supply in both Missouri and Connecticut," said Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer at Miller Tabak Asset Management.
Ohio's Cuyahoga County is planning to sell $230 million of certificates of participation for a convention center hotel project.
The negotiated deal will be senior-managed by Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. on Thursday and is rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by S&P.
A two-pronged deal from the East Bay Municipal Utility District will lead the activity in the California market this week.
Both offerings will be priced on Tuesday and will be rated Aa1 by Moody's, AAA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-plus by Fitch.
The $204 million offering of water system revenue refunding bonds on behalf of Alameda and Contra Costa counties will be senior-managed by JPMorgan Securities LLC.
The bonds, which mature from 2015 to 2026, will be offered to retail investors on Monday.
Wells Fargo Securities will handle the pricing of a separate $131 million portion of water-system revenue refunding bonds, which are structured to mature from 2027 to 2035.
Massachusetts will sell $200 million of its GO debt on Wednesday in a deal that will be federally taxable.
Rated Aa1 by Moody's, and AA-plus by Fitch, the bonds are structured to mature serially from 2015 to 2024 and the proceeds will finance capital projects within the state.
This week's projected volume would be the largest since the week starting April 21, when $6.37 billion came to market.
Before that, volume was last this high on the week of March 10, when Puerto Rico's $3.5 billion offering boosted the total.
A decline in muni volume has helped prop up prices this year, amid demand for tax free yields.
Total volume through April this year was $89.34 billion, compared with $122.71 billion a year earlier.
