Fighting Irish brings $150 million refunding bonds at 5%; municipals sag on active primary

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Sept. 9 - Municipals ended a fairly quiet Wednesday with a slightly sour tone, traders reported.

"It's looking a little weaker, especially out on the long end," said one trader.

"[Yields are] maybe 2, 3 basis points higher on the long end," the trader said. "The short end of the yield curve is mostly unchanged, maybe off by 1 basis point or so. Treasuries were really having a hard time making any sort of movement today, so that might have something to do with it."

Meanwhile, Wednesday's pricing action was led by an interesting offering from the University of Notre Dame du Lac. The university sold $150 million in revenue refunding bonds through St. Joseph County, Ind.

"It's mostly interesting because they don't really issue bonds very often," said one sellside source asked about the bonds.

"I think pricing came out very well for them. They're a triple-A rated issuer, and they don't come to market often, so I think it's a good pricing for them."

The sellsider said the university has a lot of other attributes in its favor that helped it achieve good pricing, including a reputation as a solid educational institution and a strong private funding base.

The 5% series 2009 educational facilities revenue refunding bonds priced at par. The bonds have a 27-year term.

Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. sold the bonds, the proceeds of which will be used to refund the university's series 1998 and 2005 bonds.

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