Washington to bring $400 million in G.O. bonds; Fairfax County, Va., to sell $230.2 million in G.O.s

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 23 - Pricing action remained practically halted on Tuesday ahead of Christmas Eve, but that didn't stop some issuers from announcing sales for January.

A large slate of general obligation bonds were presented Tuesday as the bond market prepares for a shortened session on Wednesday.

The G.O. influx was led by a $400 million offering of series 2009 G.O.s from the State of Washington. These bonds are set to price competitively on Jan. 7, said a preliminary official statement.

The offering includes $270 million in series 2009C various purpose G.O. bonds and $130 million in series 2009D motor vehicle fuel tax G.O. bonds.

Seattle-Northwest Securities Co. and Montague DeRose and Associates are the financial advisers.

Both the 2009C bonds and 2009D bonds are due 2010 to 2034.

Proceeds from the 2009C bonds will be used for various capital purposes, and proceeds from the 2009D bonds will be used for expenditures related to highway improvements, the construction of certain 2003 projects or improvements and the construction of certain 2005 transportation partnership projects or improvements.

Fairfax G.O.s ahead

Also coming up in January, Fairfax County in Virginia is scheduled to price $230.2 million in series 2009 G.O.s on Jan. 13, said a calendar of upcoming deals.

The bonds (Aaa//AAA) will be sold on a competitive basis.

The offering includes $197.7 million in series 2009A G.O. public improvement bonds and $32.5 million in series 2009B G.O. public improvement refunding bonds.

Proceeds will be used for school improvement projects and other county projects as well as for the refunding of the county's series 1999A G.O. bonds.

Wichita to sell bonds

Also on Jan. 13, the City of Wichita, Kan., plans to price $114.41 million in G.O. bonds and G.O. temporary renewal notes, said a calendar of upcoming sales.

The offering includes: $9.59 million in series 796 G.O. bonds; $9.44 million in series 796A G.O. bonds; $33.31 million in series 787 G.O. bonds; $37.375 million in series 266 G.O. renewal temporary notes; $10.475 million in series 229 G.O. renewal and improvement temporary notes; and $14.22 million in series 230 G.O. renewal temporary notes.

The bonds will be sold on a competitive basis with Springsted Inc. as the financial adviser.

The series 796 bonds are due 2010 to 2024; the 796A bonds are due 2010 to 2029; and the series 787 bonds are due 2010 to 2024. Each of the series 266 notes, series 229 notes and series 230 notes are due Nov. 19, 2009.

Amherst College deal

In other upcoming offerings for 2009, the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority is scheduled to price $61 million in series 2009K revenue bonds for Amherst College Jan. 8, said a preliminary official statement.

The sale includes $8 million in series 2009K-1 revenue bonds (Aaa/VMIG 1/AAA/A-1+/) and $53 million in series 2009K-2 variable-rate demand revenue bonds (Aaa/AAA/).

The 2008K-2 bonds will initially bear interest at the term rate mode.

The bonds will be sold on a negotiated basis with Merrill Lynch & Co. as the senior manager.

Proceeds will be used to defease the college's outstanding series G bonds and to make a deposit to the college's project fund.

Secondary nearly unchanged

Moving to the secondary market, a trader said volume was still off substantially, but the tone of the market was fairly unchanged.

"It's very quiet," he noted. "Not a lot moving around today."

Looking to still light trading volume from Tuesday, Arizona's Banner Health saw its series 2008 revenue bonds trade. The 5% 2038s were seen at 6.868%.

Also trading Tuesday were the San Diego County Water Authority's series 2008A revenue certificates of participation. The 5% 2038s were trading at 5.802%.

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