Fairfield University, Conn., sells $108 million revenue bonds; New Hampshire Housing raises funds

By Cristal Cody and Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Aug. 13 - New issue activity in the municipal bond market continued to taper off on Wednesday, even as a few offerings priced.

The pricing action was led by Fairfield University in Connecticut, which priced $108 million revenue bonds with a 4.924% true interest cost, the issuer told Prospect News.

"We were hoping to stay below 5%, so it's actually pretty good," said William Lucas, treasurer.

The series N bonds (A3/A-/) priced with 3% to 5% coupons to yield 2.2% to 4.98%.

The bonds have serial maturities from 2009 through 2029.

The Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority sold the bonds in a negotiated deal led by senior manager J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.

Proceeds will be used to refund the $105.9 million outstanding from the series L1 and L2 revenue bonds, to fund a swap termination payment and to make a deposit to the debt service reserve fund.

New Hampshire housing bonds

Elsewhere in pricing news Wednesday, the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority priced $51.52 million single-family mortgage acquisition revenue bonds with a 5.38% true interest cost on Wednesday, the issuer said.

"The retail order period yesterday was strong and we ended up oversubscribing all the serial bonds to retail, and that allowed us to drop on some of the maturity yields by 5 basis points," said Paul Goneau, chief financial officer.

"Today, we had a very strong institutional market for both the shorter-term bonds and the long-term bonds, as well as some good interest in the PAC bonds."

The $44.02 million series 2008E term bonds priced at par with 5.05% to 5.6% coupons.

The bonds are due 2023, 2028, 2033 and 2038.

Premium PAC bonds due 2038 priced with a 6.625% coupon to yield 5.28%.

The $1.095 million series 2008F bonds priced at par with 2% to 2.9% coupons for the maturities from 2009 through 2011.

The $6.91 million series 2008G bonds priced at par with 4% to 5.5% coupons for the serial maturities from 2011 through 2019.

The bonds (Aa2) were sold in a negotiated sale managed by Merrill Lynch & Co.

Proceeds will be used to purchase newly originated mortgage loans and to refund and replace a portion of outstanding bonds from the series 1993A mortgage bonds, the series 1994 A, B and D revenue bonds and the series 1995 D, E, G and H revenue bonds.

North Carolina limited obligation bonds

Also, North Carolina was expected to price $200 million capital improvement limited obligation bonds through a competitive sale on Wednesday, but pricing terms were not immediately available.

The series 2008A bonds (Aa1/AA+/AA+) have serial maturities from 2010 through 2028.

First Southwest Co. is the state's financial adviser.

Proceeds will be used for capital projects that include medical facilities, museums, youth development centers, parks and game lands and prison additions.

Kansas City sale

Kansas City, Mo., was also set to price $102.265 million in variable-rate bonds Wednesday, but calls to the issuer for the initial rate were not returned by press time.

The bonds (Aaa/VMIG1//AA+/F1+) were sold on a negotiated basis with Citigroup Global Market as the senior manager. The deal includes $81.4 million in series 2008E bonds and $20.865 million in series 2008F bonds. The 2008E bonds are due 2034, and the 2008F bonds are due 2025.

The rate resets weekly.

Proceeds will be used to refund the city's outstanding series 2004A and 2005 revenue bonds.

New York issuers

New York issuers expect to sell and refund millions of dollars in bonds throughout August, according to an updated sale calendar from the New York State Comptroller's Securities Coordinating Committee.

During the week of Aug. 18, the New York State Thruway Authority plans to refund $230.7 million outstanding bonds and sell $339.2 million second general highway and bridge trust fund bonds.

Also that week, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York expects to price $130 million fixed-rate bonds for SUNY Dormitories.

During the week of Aug. 25, the Thruway Authority intends to price $465.9 million bonds, including $366 million in new money.

On Aug. 27, the Empire State Development Corp. plans to refund the $130 million series 2002B1 auction-rate securities.

Tennessee to raise $141.16 million

In other new offerings, Tennessee plans to price $141.16 million general obligation bonds through a competitive sale on Aug. 20, according to a notice of sale.

The $125.8 million series 2008A and $15.36 million series 2008B bonds have serial maturities from 2009 through 2028.

Public Financial Management is the financial adviser for the sale.

Proceeds will be used to refund outstanding commercial paper and to finance capital projects.

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