Municipals end short week flat; New York Liberty Development brings $1.22 billion of bonds

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 23 - Municipal yields closed out the short week flat with very light trading activity, said one trader reached during the early afternoon.

"It's very quiet," he said. "Everyone is shutting down for the holiday. There have been some trades today, but it is extremely slow."

There was some primary action. The New York Liberty Development Corp. came to market with its long-anticipated $1.219 billion sale of series 2010 liberty revenue bonds, said a pricing sheet.

The bonds were downsized from $1.308 billion and were sold through Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.

The bonds are due Dec. 1, 2050 and bear interest at the term rate with a 0.42% initial rate.

Proceeds will be used to reconstruct portions of the World Trade Center.

Another New York Liberty deal

The billion-dollar offering comes just a day after the corporation priced $338.05 million of series 2010A Three World Trade Center project multimodal recovery zone revenue bonds through Goldman Sachs.

The offering included $336.56 million of series 2010A-1 bonds and $1.49 million of series 2010A-2 bonds.

The 2010A-1 bonds are due Dec. 1, 2050 and bear interest at the term rate with a 0.49% initial coupon. The 2010A-2 bonds bear interest at the weekly rate.

The corporation plans to use the proceeds from this sale to reconstruct Three World Trade Center, a tower at the World Trade Center site that will be comprised mostly of offices.

Philly school bonds price

Elsewhere, the School District of Philadelphia priced $300 million of series 2010 general obligation refunding bonds, said a pricing sheet.

The deal included $150 million of series 2010F bonds and $150 million of series 2010G bonds. Both bonds are due Sept. 1, 2030 and bear interest at the weekly rate.

Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC were the senior managers.

The proceeds will be used to refund the district's series 2008A-B bonds and terminate a swap agreement connected to the bonds.

Sunshine State brings bonds

Also during the session, the Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission priced $225.9 million of series 2010 multimodal revenue bonds, said a pricing sheet.

The deal included $112.95 million of series 2010A bonds and $112.95 million of series 2010B bonds.

The bonds (Aa1/VMIG 1/AA-/A-1+/) were sold on a negotiated basis. JPMorgan was the senior manager for the 2010A bonds, and Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. was the lead manager for the 2010B bonds.

The 2010A bonds are due Sept. 1, 2035 and bear interest at the weekly rate. The 2010B bonds are also due Sept. 1, 2035 and bear interest at the weekly rate.

Proceeds will be used to fund a loan to Miami-Dade County so the county can refinance existing debt.

Based in Tallahassee, the commission provides financing to select cities and counties in Florida.

DePaul University bonds ahead

Looking to pricing action in the coming year, the Illinois Finance Authority is expected to come to market with $165.665 million of series 2011 revenue and revenue refunding bonds for Chicago's DePaul University, said a preliminary official statement.

The offering includes $115 million of series 2011A revenue bonds and $50.665 million of series 2011B revenue refunding bonds.

The 2011A bonds are expected to price on Jan. 11, and the 2011B bonds are set to price Jan. 26.

The bonds (A3/A-/A) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Goldman Sachs as the senior manager.

Proceeds will be used to fund capital projects for the university as well as refund its series 2005B-C adjustable-rate bonds.

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