Entergy Louisiana, Virginia Power, Ford, Ohio Power price notes; Anheuser-Busch eases

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., March 20 – Investment-grade supply picked up on Tuesday as issuers pushed to price deals ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision due on Wednesday.

Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide Inc. announced a six-tranche offering of notes (A3//) during the session.

In issuance reported, Entergy Louisiana LLC sold $750 million of 15-year collateral trust mortgage bonds.

Virginia Electric and Power Co. brought $700 million of 10-year senior notes to the primary market.

Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC came with a $550 million tap of its floating-rate notes due April 5, 2021.

Ohio Power Co. priced $400 million of 30-year senior notes.

Also, in SSA supply, Kommunalbanken AS was marketing $1 billion of two-year notes.

The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee wraps its two-day meeting on Wednesday. A rate hike of 25 basis points is widely expected by market sources.

In the secondary market, Anheuser-Busch InBev Finance Inc.’s 3.65% notes due 2026 widened 8 bps on Tuesday to 104 bps bid, a source said.

Anheuser-Busch sold $11 billion of the notes (A3/A-) on Jan. 13, 2016 at a spread of 160 bps over Treasuries.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index rolled to the new 30 series on Tuesday. The index closed the day about 7 bps wider at a spread of 62 bps.

Entergy Louisiana prices

Entergy Louisiana sold $750 million of 4% collateral trust mortgage bonds due March 15, 2033 on Tuesday at a spread of 112.5 bps over Treasuries, according to an FWP filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bonds (A2/A/) priced at 99.844 to yield 4.014%.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Mizuho Securities USA Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC were the bookrunners.

Proceeds will be used for construction of the Lake Charles Power Station and the St. Charles Power Station, repayment at maturity of about $375 million of the company’s 6% first mortgage bonds due May 1, 2018, repayment of borrowings from the Entergy system money pool, repayment of about $100 million of borrowings under the company’s $350 million credit facility and general corporate purposes.

Entergy Louisiana is a Jefferson, La.-based energy provider.

Virginia Electric prints

Virginia Electric and Power sold $700 million of 3.8% 2018 series A 10-year senior notes (A2/BBB+/A) on Tuesday at a spread of 95 bps over Treasuries, according to an FWP filing with the SEC.

The notes priced at 99.768 to yield 3.828%.

BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and U.S. Bancorp Investments Inc. were the bookrunners.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and to repay short-term debt.

The electric utility is based in Richmond, Va.

Ford Motor Credit reopens

Ford Motor Credit (Baa2/BBB/BBB) priced a $550 million reopening of its floating-rate notes due April 5, 2021 on Tuesday at par to yield Libor plus 81 bps, according to an FWP filing with the SEC.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC was the bookrunner.

The notes previously were issued in a $250 million offering on March 5 at par to yield Libor plus 81 bps. The total outstanding now is $800 million.

Ford Motor Credit is the financing arm of Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker Ford Motor Co.

Ohio Power sells notes

Ohio Power sold $400 million of 4.15% 30-year series N senior notes on Tuesday at 99.268 to yield 4.193%, according to an FWP filing with the SEC.

The notes (A2/A-/) priced at a spread of Treasuries plus 107 bps.

Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Scotia Capital, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities were the bookrunners.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes relating to the company’s utility business.

Ohio Power is a Columbus, Ohio-based electricity provider and subsidiary of the American Electric Power Co., Inc.

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