Morning Commentary: Mizuho, General Motors, EIB offer notes; Cigna, Carlyle eye deals

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Sept. 5 – Deal action in the high-grade bond market continued to accelerate on Wednesday with several issuers announcing offerings or holding fixed income investor calls for new issues.

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. is marketing senior fixed-to-floating rate notes and senior floating-rate notes.

General Motors Co. intends to bring three tranches of notes to the primary market.

Public Service Electric and Gas Co. is offering five-year secured medium-term notes.

Northern States Power Co. plans to sell 30-year first mortgage bonds.

Willis North America, Inc. also is on deck with a two-part offering of senior notes.

In addition, the European Investment Bank (Aaa/AAA/AAA) plans to price a $3 billion offering of long three-year global notes on Wednesday, according to a market source.

The notes were initially talked to price in the mid-swaps plus 1 basis point area.

Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, LLC are the lead managers.

More than $12 billion of high-grade bonds priced on Tuesday following the long holiday weekend with issuance led by Pfizer Inc.’s $5 billion six-tranche sale of senior notes.

Market sources expect about $45 billion to $55 billion of deal volume over the week.

Looking at secondary market action, $13.38 billion of investment-grade bonds were traded on Tuesday, according to Trace data.

Cigna, Carlyle hold calls

In other market activity, Cigna Corp. (Baa1/A/BBB-) began holding fixed income investor calls on Tuesday for a benchmark dollar-denominated multiple-tranche offering of Rule 144A-eligible bonds, a source said.

BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are the arrangers.

Halfmoon Parent, Inc., currently a subsidiary of Cigna, will become the parent of Cigna following its $67 billion cash, stock and debt acquisition of Express Scripts Holding Co. Halfmoon Parent (Baa1/A-/BBB) is expected to issue about $23.5 billion of senior notes for the deal.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the cash portion of the merger, which is expected to close by the end of the year.

Also on Wednesday, the Carlyle Group (BBB+/BBB+) will start a two-day session of fixed income investor calls for a Rule 144A- and Regulation S-eligible offering of senior notes, according to a market source.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are the arrangers.

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