US company debt market returns in power after market vacation

By Matt Tracy

(Reuters) -U.S. company debtors flocked to the investment-grade bond market on Tuesday, seizing on near-record tight borrowing prices and getting forward of any market volatility sparked by the Federal Reserve’s rate of interest assembly later this month.

No less than 27 issuers tapped the high-grade company bond market on Tuesday, in line with market individuals — the primary day of the Labor Day holiday-shortened week that’s traditionally the busiest of the 12 months for high-grade bond market deal-making.

American pharmaceutical firm Merck turned to the bond marketplace for $5 billion to assist fund its $10 billion buyout of peer Verona Pharma introduced on July 9. Financial institution of America led that financing, which consists of each shorter- and longer-dated notes and bonds.

One other main bond sale introduced Tuesday was well being insurer Cigna’s $4 billion deal to refinance a soon-maturing time period mortgage and fund normal company functions. Citigroup led that transaction.

Automakers Ford and Toyota had been additionally amongst those who introduced bond gross sales.

All instructed, Tuesday tallied a minimum of $40.8 billion in high-grade company bond gross sales at market shut, in line with Hans Mikkelsen, managing director of credit score technique at TD Securities. This was simply shy of the $43.2 billion issued the day after Labor Day final 12 months.

That places the week on monitor to satisfy or exceed market forecasts, which had pegged total high-grade company bond issuance at roughly $60 billion, in line with a number of market individuals.

“The market was calling for lots of issuance this week coming off the vacation weekend,” mentioned Mike Sanders, head of mounted earnings at Madison, Wisconsin-based Madison Investments.

TIGHT BOND SPREADS

Company bond spreads, or the premium over U.S. Treasuries paid by firms to borrow, have hovered close to all-time tight ranges in current weeks. They final averaged 82 foundation factors (bps), in line with the ICE BofA Company Index, having elevated from a document 75 bp tight stage reached on Aug. 15.

The flurry of company debt gross sales impacted costs within the Treasury market too, as buyers demanded greater returns to make room for the brand new debt being bought, pushing Treasury costs decrease and yields greater.

The Merck deal and others this week might mark the beginning of an anticipated pick-up in M&A-related debt issuance for the rest of the 12 months, market individuals mentioned.

“These M&A financings have been coming again,” mentioned Piers Ronan, head of investment-grade debt syndicate at Truist Securities. “They are not the largest offers ever however they’ll result in an total enhance in M&A-related numbers.”