UnitedHealth sells $2.95 billion of notes; credit spreads firm; high-grade outflows rise

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Dec. 13 – UnitedHealth Group Inc. brought a $2.95 billion four-part bond deal to the high-grade market on Thursday on the tight side of guidance and better than initial talk.

The company stood down with the offering over the past two sessions until moving forward in Thursday’s session, a market source said.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 31 index ended the day more than 1 basis point better at a spread of 77 bps. Credit spreads almost have retraced last week’s losses when spreads widened about 5 bps.

Week to date, more than $4 billion of investment-grade bonds have priced, near the top end of syndicate forecasts of no supply to about $5 billion of issuance for the week.

In the secondary market, high-grade bonds headed out on Thursday mostly unchanged to slightly tighter.

AstraZeneca plc’s 4% notes due Jan. 17, 2029 were steady but traded more than a point weaker than where the issue priced in August.

Dow Chemical Co.’s new 4.8% senior notes due Nov. 30, 2028 were flat and remain wider than issuance.

DowDuPont Inc.’s 4.725% notes due Nov. 15, 2028 also were unchanged but traded about 5 bps better than where the issue priced in November.

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