Crown Castle, Hormel, Scotia, MassMutual, Reinsurance Group, BankUnited price; inflows soar

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., June 4 – A handful of corporate issuers priced about $7 billion of bonds in the high-grade primary market on Thursday.

Crown Castle International Corp. sold $2.5 billion of senior notes in three tranches.

Hormel Foods Corp. priced $1 billion of 10-year notes.

Bank of Nova Scotia tapped the market with $1 billion of five-year senior bail-inable notes.

MassMutual Global Funding II came by with $1 billion of three-year funding agreement-backed notes.

Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. priced an upsized $600 million of 10-year senior notes.

BankUnited, Inc. sold $300 million of 10-year subordinated notes (Baa3//BBB-).

Also, Athene Holding Ltd. priced $600 million of reset perpetual non-cumulative preference shares (/BBB-/BBB-) in an offering upsized from $200 million.

Deal volume totals more than $46 billion week to date, near the high end of the $30 billion to $50 billion of supply expected by market participants for the week.

Refinitive Lipper US Fund Flows reported on Thursday that investment-grade corporate fund inflows climbed to $9.91 billion for the past week ended Wednesday, compared to $7.5 billion of inflows in the previous week and $5.33 million in the week prior.

Daily inflows to U.S. investment-grade bond funds and ETFs totaled $11.65 billion over the four business days from May 28th through Tuesday, according to a BofA Securities, Inc. research note released on Thursday.

The total surpasses the previous weekly record of $10.11 billion seen in October 2014.

Credit spreads eased less than 1 basis point on the day. The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 33 index headed out at a spread of 72.15 bps.

Crown Castle prices $2.5 billion

Crown Castle International priced $2.5 billion of senior notes (Baa3/BBB-/BBB+) in three tranches in the offering, according to a market source.

A $500 million offering of 1.35% five-year notes priced at a spread of Treasuries plus 100 bps.

The notes were initially talked to print at the 135 bps spread area.

A $1.1 billion tranche of 2.25% notes due Jan. 15, 2031 priced at a Treasuries plus 145 bps spread.

Price guidance was in the 180 bps spread area.

The company sold $900 million of 3.25% notes due Jan. 15, 2051 at a spread of Treasuries plus 165 bps.

Initial talk was at the 200 bps over Treasuries area.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Mizuho Securities USA Inc., SG Americas Securities LLC, SMBC Nikko Securities America Inc. and TD Securities (USA) LLC were the bookrunners.

Houston-based Crown Castle provides shared wireless infrastructure to wireless carriers.

Hormel Foods sells $1 billion

Hormel Foods priced $1 billion of 1.8% 10-year notes (A1/A) on Thursday at 99.727 to yield 1.83%, or a spread of Treasuries plus 102 bps, according to a market source and an FWP filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The notes priced tighter than initial talk in the 135 bps spread area.

BofA Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo Securities LLC were the bookrunners.

Hormel is an Austin, Minn.-based manufacturer and marketer of meat and food products.

Scotiabank raises $1 billion

Bank of Nova Scotia sold $1 billion of 1.3% five-year senior bail-inable notes (A2/A+/AA-) at 99.778 to yield 1.346%, or a spread of 95 bps over Treasuries, according to a market source and an FWP filing.

Initial price talk was in the Treasuries plus 110 bps area.

Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., Barclays, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo were the bookrunners.

The bank is based in Toronto.

MassMutual brings $1 billion

MassMutual Global Funding II priced $1 billion of 0.85% three-year funding agreement-backed notes (Aa3/AA+/AA+) at a spread of Treasuries plus 62 bps, according to a market source.

Initial price talk was in the Treasuries plus 80 bps area.

BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan were the bookrunners.

The issuer is a unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. based in Springfield, Mass.

Reinsurance Group prices

Also, Reinsurance Group of America priced an upsized $600 million of 3.15% 10-year senior notes (Baa1/A/) at a spread of 240 bps over Treasuries on Thursday, according to a market source and an FWP filing.

The notes were talked to print in the 300 bps over Treasuries area.

The offering was upsized from $500 million.

Reinsurance Group priced the notes at 99.472 to yield 3.212%.

Barclays, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan, U.S. Bancorp Investments Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and Wells Fargo were the bookrunners.

Reinsurance Group is a Chesterfield, Mo.-based reinsurance company.

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