Syngenta sells six tranches; Scotia, Credit Agricole, International Development price notes

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., April 17 – Investment-grade supply stayed strong over Tuesday’s session with several issuers in the primary market.

Syngenta AG sold $4.75 billion of senior notes in six parts following a roadshow that started last week.

Bank of Nova Scotia priced $2 billion of three-year paper in two tranches.

Credit Agricole SA (London Branch) sold $1.75 billion of notes in two parts.

Cargill Inc. tapped the primary market with a $500 million offering of three-year senior notes.

Also, International Development Association sold $1.5 billion of five-year notes in a debut bond deal.

In other market activity on Tuesday, DTE Electric Co. held fixed-income investor calls for a green bond offering of senior secured notes (Aa3/A/A+), according to a market source.

About $25 billion to $35 billion of supply is expected by syndicate sources for the week.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 30 index was modestly tighter on the day at a spread of 59 basis points.

Syngenta prices $4.75 billion

Syngenta (Ba2/BBB-/BBB) priced a $4.75 billion six-part offering of senior notes on the tight side of guidance in Rule 144A and Regulation S offering on Tuesday, according to a market source.

The company sold $750 million of 3.698% two-year notes at a spread of Treasuries plus 130 bps.

It also priced $750 million of 3.993% three-year notes with a 140 bps over Treasuries spread.

A $1 billion tranche of 4.441% five-year notes were sold with a 175 bps spread over Treasuries.

Syngenta sold $750 million of 4.892% seven-year notes at a spread of 210 bps over Treasuries.

A $1 billion tranche of 5.182% 10-year notes priced with a Treasuries plus 235 bps spread.

The company also sold $500 million of 5.676% 30-year bonds at a spread of Treasuries plus 265 bps.

BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., MUFG and Santander Investment Securities Inc. were the bookrunners.

The agribusiness company is based in Basel, Switzerland.

Scotiabank prices $2 billion

Bank of Nova Scotia priced $2 billion of three-year fixed- and floating-rate senior notes (A1/A+/AA-) on Tuesday, according to a market source.

The company sold $700 million of floating-rate notes due April 20, 2021 at Libor plus 44 bps.

And it priced $1.3 billion of 3.125% three-year fixed-rate notes at a spread of Treasuries plus 67 bps.

The bookrunners were Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co., Citigroup Global Markets, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC.

The bank is based in Toronto.

Credit Agricole sells two tranches

Credit Agricole (London Branch) sold $1.75 billion of notes (A1/A/A+) in two tranches on Tuesday, according to a market source.

The bank priced $500 million of five-year floating-rate notes at Libor plus 102 bps.

It also sold $1.25 billion of 3.375% notes due April 24, 2023 at a spread of Treasuries plus 115 bps.

Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc. was the bookrunner.

The London-based bank is a subsidiary of Credit Agricole S.A.

Cargill sells notes

Cargill sold $500 million of 3.05% three-year senior notes (A2/A/A) on Tuesday at a spread of Treasuries plus 57 bps, a market source said.

The notes were talked to price in the Treasuries plus 55 bps to 60 bps area.

Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. were the bookrunners.

Cargill is a Minneapolis, Minn.-based food and agriculture company.

International Development debuts

International Development Association (Aaa/AAA) priced $1.5 billion of 2.75% notes due April 24, 2023 at 99.357 to yield 2.889% in its inaugural benchmark-sized offering on Tuesday, according to a press release and a market source.

The notes priced at a spread of mid-swaps plus 7 bps, or a spread of 19.6 bps over Treasuries.

The notes were initially talked on Monday to price with a spread in the mid-swaps plus 10 bps area. Guidance later firmed to mid-swaps plus 9 bps before the spread was set at mid-swaps plus 7 bps.

The deal had an order book of $4.6 billion from 110 investors in 30 countries.

In response to the strong demand, the issuer upsized the transaction from a planned amount of $1 billion.

“IDA received a resounding response from the market for its debut issuance,” said World Bank vice president and treasurer Arunma Oteh in a news release. “Investors globally seized the unique opportunity to be the first to invest in IDA’s triple-A rated bond and make a positive impact in the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the globe.”

Barclays, BNP Paribas Securities Corp., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Nomura Securities International, Inc. were the lead managers.

“Given the scale of IDA’s future ambition, this is clearly the start of a new and exciting era for impact investing,” commented Barclays Group chief executive officer Jes Staley, also in the press release.

International Development Association is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that provides loans and advice to middle-income and credit-worthy poor countries.

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