Pricing action for week of June 2 is heavy; Citizens Property Insurance postpones $1.5 billion bond sale

By Cristal Cody and Sheri Kasprzak

New York, May 30 - Pricing activity for June is already turning out to be busy, with several offerings announced Friday.

A large slate of deals is coming up for the week of June 2 in particular.

Even though many issuers are planning new deals, at least one has postponed a very large bond sale due to poor market conditions.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. delayed the sale of $1.5 billion high-risk account senior secured bonds because of poor market conditions in the week after Memorial Day, chief financial officer Sharon Binnun said in an interview Friday.

The Florida-based insurer also set a pricing cap on the interest rate at 4.25% for the series 2008A bonds, she said.

"It looked like the market was in the right place for us and we went ahead and issued the POS [public official statement] the end of last week," Binnun said.

"But this week, in the first three days, five-year treasuries went up 30 basis points and two-year treasuries went up 25 basis points. The tone of the market on the short end of the curve just didn't seem right so we did not price."

The company plans to watch the market for the best time to price over the next couple of weeks, she said.

The bonds (A2/A+/) have maturities from March 1, 2011 through March 1, 2013.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to provide resources to the high-risk account, which is used to fund policy claims and other expenses from future storms.

Miami airport plans sale

Thursday is shaping up to be a particularly busy day for pricings. Heading up the action for that day is a $600 million sale of series 2008A aviation revenue bonds from the Miami International Airport in Florida. The bonds will be sold through Miami-Dade County.

The bonds (A2//A) will be sold on a negotiated basis, but the underwriter could not be determined by press time Friday.

The proceeds from the deal will be used for the airport's capital improvement program and the refunding of outstanding commercial paper.

CollegeInvest to sell $188.3 million

In other upcoming bonds set to price Thursday, CollegeInvest of Colorado plans to price $188.3 million in series 2008I-A education loan revenue bonds, said a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The Department of Higher Education of the State of Colorado will sell the bonds.

The bonds (/AA/A-1+/AA+/F-1+) will be sold on a negotiated basis with RBC Capital Markets as the senior manager.

The bonds, due Dec. 1, 2042, will initially bear interest at the weekly rate, but may be converted to any other type of interest rate.

Proceeds will be used for future eligible loan acquisitions, the redemption of refunded bonds, a deposit to a revenue fund, a deposit to a capitalized interest account and a deposit to a debt service reserve fund.

Kern County's $155 million deal

Also on Thursday, Kern County in California plans to price $155 million in series 2008-2009 tax and revenue anticipation notes on Thursday, according to a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The bonds (/SP-1+/), which are due June 1, 2009, will be sold on a competitive basis. KNN Public Finance is the financial adviser.

Proceeds will be used for current expenses, capital expenditures and the payment of general obligations.

Chicago's $498.34 million G.O. sale

Another big deal coming during the week is a $498.34 million offering of series 2008 general obligation bonds from the city of Chicago.

The bonds (//AA) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Depfa First Albany and Jackson Securities as the senior managers. The co-managers are Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson and Guzman & Co.

The sale includes $377.26 million in series 2008A bonds and $121.08 million in series 2008B bonds.

Proceeds will be used for public right-of-way infrastructure improvements, acquisition of personal property, the construction of municipal facilities and the refunding of existing bonds.

Connecticut G.O.s to price

Also coming up in the week, Connecticut's previously announced sale of $400 million in series 2008A G.O. bonds will be priced Tuesday, according to a new issue calendar.

The bonds (Aa3/AA/AA) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Citigroup Global Markets as the senior manager.

The bonds are due from 2009 to 2028.

The proceeds will be used for school construction and community conservation, among other projects.

Texas Higher Education bonds

Also ahead, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board expects to price $102.655 million G.O. bonds in a competitive sale on Tuesday, according to a sale notice.

The $74.455 million series 2008A college student loan bonds and $28.2 million series 2008B college student loan refunding bonds (Aa1/AA/) had been planned for sale May 29, but the short business week made it difficult to get the best bids, a source told Prospect News.

The series 2008A bonds have serial maturities from 2012 through 2032. The series 2008B bonds have maturities from 2014 through 2018.

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

Proceeds will be used to fund a student loan program and to refund the outstanding $26.82 million in Aug. 1, 2009 maturities from the series 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002 student loan bonds.

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