Tax-free munis maintain gains; Los Angeles Community College District to bring $621.415 million

By Cristal Cody and Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Sept. 8 - Monday kicked off what's gearing up to be a very eventful week in munis, with plans for a $621.415 million sale of general obligation bonds from the Los Angeles Community College District in California confirmed.

With Tuesday jam-packed with several large offerings, the market seems to be back into the swing of things after a lull during the late summer.

In the broader market, a sellsider said Monday in a market update that investors are looking more and more to the fixed-income market and that tax-free munis may be particularly attractive right now.

"Fixed income is finding a home and even though rates are at near term lows, people continue to pour into them," the sellsider wrote.

"Tax-free municipal bonds maintained their recent price gains as the relatively light new issue calendar and very strong Treasury market resulted in many dealers scrambling to find new inventory."

L.A. Community College sale

Heading up a large slate of deals on Tuesday is the Los Angeles Community College District's $621.415 million sale of G.O. bonds, a calendar said.

The bonds (Aa2/AA/) will be sold through senior managers Citigroup Global Markets and Goldman, Sachs & Co.

The sale includes $276.5 million in series 2008E-1 bonds and $344.915 million in series 2008F-1 bonds.

Proceeds will be used for the construction, equipment, acquisition and furnishing of district facilities.

Another big sale on Tuesday comes from the Grand River Dam Authority of Oklahoma, which expects to price $562.905 million in series 2008 revenue bonds, a calendar said.

The bonds (MIG 1//A) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Citigroup Global Markets as the lead manager.

The deal includes $525.095 million in series 2008A bonds and $37.81 million in series 2008B bonds.

Proceeds from the sale will be used for the purchase of a 36% undivided interest in the Redbud gas-fired, combined-cycle power generation facility in Luther, Okla.

Dasny's mental health bonds

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York also has a big offering set for Tuesday: $467.3 million in mental health services facilities revenue bonds, according to a sales calendar.

The bonds (/AA-/A+) will be sold on a negotiated basis with JPMorgan as the senior manager.

The sale includes $394.765 million in series 2008F bonds and $72.5 million in a remarketing of series 2003C-2 bonds.

Proceeds will be used to refund the authority's outstanding series 2003D2-A, 2003D2-C, 2003D2-D and 2003D2-I bonds.

The State of Mississippi's $230.145 million in G.O. bonds are expected to price competitively Tuesday, according to a sale calendar.

The sale includes $133.545 million series 2008A bonds, due from 2009 to 2028, and $96.6 million taxable series 2008B bonds, due from 2009 to 2023.

Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada PLLC is the state's bond counsel.

Proceeds from the bonds (Aa3/AA/AA) will be used for projects that include community preservation, water conservation, fire truck acquisitions, water pollution control, shipyard improvements, railroad improvements, a children's museum and a wireless communications system.

Ohio's G.O. refunding bonds

Looking a bit further ahead, the State of Ohio is expected to price $296.74 million in series 2008 G.O. refunding bonds on Sept. 16, said a preliminary official statement released Monday.

The bonds (Aa1/AA+/AA+) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Citigroup Global Markets and Wachovia Bank as the senior managers.

The sale includes $240 million in series 2008A bonds and $56.74 million in series 2008B bonds. The 2008A bonds are due from 2009 to 2028, and the 2008B bonds are due from 2009 to 2014.

Proceeds will be used for capital improvement projects.

Also coming up, the Indiana Bond Bank plans to price $81.687 million special program bonds for the city of Carmel's Junior Waterworks project, according to a preliminary official statement released Monday.

The sale includes $61.01 million series 2008B current interest bonds and $20.677 million series 2008B capital appreciation bonds.

The bonds (/AAA/) are insured by Financial Security Assurance.

Oppenheimer is the senior manager of the negotiated sale. Co-managers are J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons LLC and Ross, Sinclaire & Associates.

Proceeds will be used to finance and refinance improvements to the waterworks system.

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