Packed primary session sees Citigroup, CVS, Berkshire Hathaway price; bond spreads ease

By Cristal Cody and Aleesia Forni

Virginia Beach, Aug. 7 – The primary market was flooded with new deals on Thursday, with around $10 billion of high-grade paper pricing during the session.

The new-issue market saw Citigroup Inc. sell a $1.5 billion two-part offering of fixed- and floating-rate notes due 2017.

CVS Caremark Corp. also issued $1.5 billion of senior notes, selling the two-part offering in tranches due 2019 and 2024.

In another two-part offering, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold $1.15 billion of senior notes in tranches due 2017 and 2019.

QVC Inc. also came to market on Thursday, selling $1 billion of crossover bonds.

The primary also saw Pacific Gas and Electric Co., HCP Inc. and Union Pacific Corp. sell upsized offerings on Thursday.

PG&E upsized its offering by $75 million, pricing a $575 million issue of senior notes in two tranches.

HCP’s new $800 million issue of 10-year notes was upsized by $200 million.

Meanwhile, Union Pacific sold a $700 million two-part issue of senior notes. The deal was upsized from an original size of $600 million.

WellPoint Inc. was also in the market on Thursday, though details of the sale were unavailable at press time.

The day’s action brings supply for the week to roughly $24 billion, topping predictions of a $15 billion week.

Investment-grade bonds softened on the large supply, according to market sources.

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