Nuveen prices $1 billion; Ferguson, UDR, IADB tap primary; Municipality Finance eyes deal

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Oct. 17 – Nuveen, LLC led deal action in the high-grade bond market on Wednesday with a $1 billion Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of 10-year guaranteed senior notes.

Also in the primary market, Ferguson Finance plc sold $750 million of 10-year senior notes.

Meanwhile, UDR, Inc. came with a $300 million offering of long 10-year medium-term notes.

In other issuance, the Inter-American Development Bank priced $500 million of three-year global floating-rate notes.

Looking ahead to Thursday, Municipality Finance plc is expected to bring a SSA offering of two-year floating-rate notes.

Supply may come in short of market forecasts for the week with more than $14 billion of corporate issuance week to date.

About $25 billion to $35 billion of deal volume was forecast for the week following thin supply last week.

A couple of issuers may be in the primary market in the near future following fixed-income investor calls this week, a source said.

Constellation Brands, Inc. (Baa3/BBB-/) will hold investor calls on Thursday via BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.

Oglethorpe Power Corp. (Baa1//BBB+) intends to conduct fixed-income investor calls on Thursday and Friday. Goldman Sachs and MUFG are the arrangers.

In the secondary market, new bonds have traded mostly better, according to a market source.

Wells Fargo Bank NA’s $3.25 billion two-part offering of notes priced on Tuesday tightened about 3 basis points to 6 bps in the secondary market.

Conagra Brands, Inc.’s $7.3 billion seven-part offering of senior notes priced on Monday were mixed with the short-dated notes about 4 bps to 10 bps tighter and the long-dated bonds about 1 bp softer.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 31 index was mostly unchanged on the day at a spread of 64 bps.

Nuveen raises $1 billion

Nuveen (Aa2/BBB+/AA+) priced a $1 billion Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of 4% 10-year guaranteed senior notes on Wednesday at a spread of 90 bps over Treasuries, according to a market source.

Price guidance on the notes was in the Treasuries plus 95 bps area, plus or minus 5 bps.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC were the bookrunners.

The company held fixed-income investor calls for the deal on Tuesday.

Parent company Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America will guarantee the notes.

Nuveen is an asset management company based in Chicago.

Ferguson Finance prices

Ferguson Finance (Baa2/BBB+/) priced $750 million of 4.5% 10-year senior notes during the session at a spread of Treasuries plus 137.5 bps, according to a market source.

The notes were talked to price in the Treasuries plus 140 bps area, plus or minus 2.5 bps, in from initial guidance in the Treasuries plus 150 bps area.

BofA Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Barclays and RBC Capital Markets, LLC were the lead managers.

The company is a subsidiary of Zug, Switzerland-based Ferguson plc, which distributes plumbing and heating products in the United Kingdom, United States and the Netherlands.

UDR sells notes

UDR brought $300 million of 4.4% medium-term notes due Jan. 26, 2029 (Baa1/BBB+/) to the primary market on Wednesday at 99.998 to yield 4.401%, according to a market source and an FWP filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bonds priced with a spread of 123 bps over Treasuries, on the tight side of guidance in the Treasuries plus 125 bps area.

Citigroup Global Markets and BofA Merrill Lynch were the bookrunners.

The notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by United Dominion Realty, LP.

UDR is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates apartment communities.

IADB prints floaters

IADB (Aaa/AAA/) also priced $500 million of global floating-rate notes due Oct. 25, 2021 in line with guidance at Libor minus 2 bps, according to a market source.

Citigroup Global Markets and TD Securities (USA) LLC were the lead managers.

The provider of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean is based in Washington, D.C.

Municipality Finance offers notes

Coming up on Thursday, Municipality Finance (Aa1/AA+/) plans to price a dollar-denominated offering of floating-rate notes due Oct. 26, 2020, according to a market source.

The notes were initially talked to price in the Libor plus 1 bp area.

J.P. Morgan Securities, Nomura Securities International, Inc. and TD Securities are the lead managers for the Rule 144A- and Regulation S-eligible offering.

Municipality Finance is a Helsinki, Finland-based credit institution that provides funding for the public sector in Finland.

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