Goldman meets blowout demand; Cisco issues $7 billion in six parts; financial paper flat

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

New York, Feb. 22 – A hodgepodge of issuers stormed Monday’s primary, bringing $18 billion of new investment-grade issuance to market.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s $3.6 billion three-part issue was a highlight of the session.

The new issue was swamped with orders, with the book reaching more than $13 billion, or around 3.7 times oversubscribed.

Tranches of the bond were between 13 basis points and 17 bps inside initial price thoughts.

The new deal comes on the heels of the $675 million issue of 6.3% preferred stock the financial giant sold on Feb. 16.

One market source noted that the overwhelming success of Goldman’s deal might “sort of push others” in the financial sector to bring bonds to market in the coming sessions.

Elsewhere on Monday, Cisco Systems Inc. sold a $7 billion offering of notes in six parts, all at the tightest side of guidance.

The primary also saw new deals from companies including Caterpillar Financial Services Corp., UnitedHealth Group Inc., Express Scripts Holding Co. and Roche Holdings Inc.

“It was a banner day,” one market source said of the deluge of new deals meeting a solid reception.

The primary is already more than halfway toward what was expected to be around a $30 billion week.

High-grade credit spreads opened the session 2 bps tighter and continued to improve another 3 bps over the day.

Investment-grade corporate bonds were mostly flat in secondary trading.

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