KfW, Ventas Realty sell bonds; Suncorp-Metway, IFC on tap; ConAgra bonds gain more in trading

By Andrea Heisinger

New York, April 7 - A new high-grade bond offering from KfW priced Tuesday, along with a split-rated sale from Ventas Realty, LP.

A sale from Suncorp-Metway Ltd. remains on the table and is expected to price in two tranches Wednesday, while International Finance Corp. announced an offering of five-year notes to price after Easter.

In the mostly quiet secondary, bank bonds were mostly unchanged despite a lack of confidence in the stock market, while the recent two-tranche deal from ConAgra Foods Inc. was significantly tighter amid further gains.

Investment-grade corporate bond spreads in general widened Tuesday as Treasury spreads tightened. This was a reversal from Monday as worries about the health of banks spread and the stock market suffered. The 10-year note was down 3 basis points to 2.9%.

KfW prices $3 billion

Germany's KfW priced $3 billion of 2.25% three-year global notes Tuesday to yield Treasuries plus 100.75 bps, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The notes had a dollar price of 99.83.

Bookrunners were Barclays Capital Inc., HSBC Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.

The AAA-rated German government-owned bank is based in Frankfurt.

Ventas sells split-rated notes

Ventas Realty, a unit of Ventas, Inc., reopened an issue of 6.5% senior notes due 2016 to add $200 million on Tuesday. The deal was announced late Monday and was sold concurrently with common shares.

The reopened notes priced at 84.25 to yield 9.597%.

They join the previously issued $200 million of notes and the newly sold 12.75 million shares of common stock.

Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and UBS Investment Bank were bookrunners.

The deal was done off the high-yield syndicate desk, a source said. The notes are rated Ba1 by Moody's Investors Service and rated BBB- by Standard & Poor's and by Fitch Ratings.

International Finance plans deal

International Finance is planning a benchmark issue of five-year global notes, a market source said Tuesday.

The AAA-rated notes will be launched "in the near future" with pricing expected after the Easter holiday, subject to market conditions, the source said.

BNP Paribas Securities Corp., HSBC Securities and JPMorgan were tapped as bookrunners.

The company is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, providing investment in developing countries. It is based in Washington, D.C.

Suncorp-Metway selling Wednesday

A deal from Australia's Suncorp-Metway Ltd. was expected to price Tuesday but is instead set to go Wednesday, a source close to the sale said.

The offering from the banking, insurance and investment provider based in Brisbane, Australia, is backed by the Australian government.

The deal is expected to be in tranches of two- and three-year notes, but the source said a size has not been set.

The AAA-rated sale is being handled by Citigroup and JPMorgan.

Slow week allows catch up

One of the slower weeks in several months has allowed some syndicate desks to play catch up, a source said Tuesday.

While more than one syndicate source claimed boredom, with a further slowdown to come in the next couple of days, one source said he was definitely not bored.

"Bored?" he said. "No, it's definitely not boring around here. We have a lot to catch up on."

Another source said new deals for the week were winding down. Some companies are doing earnings announcements this week, which puts them in blackout for bond sales, he said.

"I think we'll see things pick up next week, but not much more this week," he said.

ConAgra bonds further gains

The two-tranche issue from ConAgra Foods furthered its gains Tuesday, a trader said.

The five- and 10-year notes were slightly tighter after pricing Monday.

The 5.875% notes due 2014 were at 378 bps bid, 375 bps offered, he said, which was in nicely from the price of Treasuries plus 400 bps. They were trading at 395 bps bid after selling Monday.

The 7% notes due 2019 did even better, tightening to 383 bps bid, 375 bps offered from the 412.5 bps price. The bonds were at 400 bps bid, 388 bps offered after pricing.

Berkshire bond top traded

A 5% bond due 2013 from Berkshire Hathaway Financial Corp. was at the top of the most-traded list early Tuesday afternoon, a market source said.

A source in the financial sector of the secondary said he wasn't sure why a bond from Berkshire was topping the list.

The financial name topped the list as bank worries persisted and the stock market fell for the second day in a row.

Earnings from some banking and investment names come out in the coming week, with some industrial names issuing as early as after Tuesday's market close.

Shares of companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs were falling, with Citigroup Inc. at one point being the only exception, with its shares up.

Bank bonds unmoved

Bonds from banking and financial names were "relatively unchanged" late Tuesday, said a secondary source who covers the financial sector.

Shares of some bank names were lower with earnings on the horizon in the coming week.

Bank, broker CDS flat

Bank and broker name credit-default swaps were mostly flat Tuesday, a trader said. Credit-default swaps in general were pretty much unchanged, they said.

Financial names tighten

A handful of bonds from financial names were seen tightening Tuesday over levels from the previous week, a market source said.

JPMorgan Chase saw its 5.125% notes due 2014 more than 45 bps tighter. Morgan Stanley and General Electric Capital Corp. also had bonds that tightened more than 40 bps.

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