Clark County to sell $675 million on Thursday; new slate of offerings planned for coming weeks

By Cristal Cody and Sheri Kasprzak

New York, May 9 - An active calendar of deals is building for the coming weeks.

Among them, Clark County School District of Nevada will price $675 million in series 2008A limited tax general obligation bonds Thursday, a preliminary official statement released Friday said.

The bonds will be sold on a competitive basis and are due from 2009 to 2028.

The district will use the proceeds to construct, equip, improve and acquire school facilities.

Looking a little farther ahead, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania intends to price $405.03 million in series 2008 general obligation bonds on May 20, according to a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The bonds include $325 million in first series bonds and $80.03 million in first series refunding bonds.

The bonds will be sold on a competitive basis.

The first series bonds are due 2009 to 2028, and the first series refunding bonds are due 2008 to 2013.

Proceeds will be used for the construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of capital facilities; the maintenance and protection of open space and other environmental initiatives; the expansion and construction of county and multi-county regional prison facilities; the compensation for service in the Persian Gulf conflict; and for the refunding of Pennsylvania's outstanding general obligation bonds.

Massachusetts agency to sell bonds

The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency intends to price $535.945 million variable-rate demand revenue bonds in 11 tranches, according to preliminary official statements.

The sale includes $50 million series U4 Boston University issue variable-rate demand revenue bonds due Oct. 1, 2040, according to a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The bonds (A2/A-/) will price with an initial term rate.

The agency also plans to price $50 million series U1 bonds, $50 million series U2 bonds, $50 million series U3 bonds, $41.7 million series U5A bonds, $43.6 million series U5B bonds, $62.52 million series U6A bonds, $62.72 million series U6B bonds, $52.5 million series U6C bonds, $10.2 million series U6D bonds and $62.705 million series U6E bonds.

The series U1, U2 and U3 bonds initially will price with a weekly interest rate and will mature Oct. 1, 2040.

The series U5A and U5B bonds will price with an initial daily rate and are due Oct. 1, 2031.

The series U6A, U6B and U6C bonds will price with an initial daily interest rate and are due Oct. 1, 2042.

The series U6D bonds will price with an initial daily rate and are due Oct. 1, 2022. The series U6E bonds will price with an initial weekly rate and are due Oct. 1, 2042.

Lehman Brothers is senior manager of the negotiated sale. Goldman, Sachs & Co. will manage the series U6B bonds.

Proceeds will be used to finance construction of a new dormitory, to acquire property to house medical students, to renovate the central heating and cooling plant, to construct new buildings for the law school on the Charles River Campus and for renovations to the College of Fine Arts building.

Calls for additional information were not returned.

The Nassau County Interim Finance Authority in New York plans to price $729.3 million variable-rate refunding bonds, the issuer said Friday.

The $605.055 million series 2008A-E sales tax secured bonds (Aa2/VMIG 1//) will price with an initial weekly rate on May 30, executive director Evan Cohen said.

The $124.245 million series 2008F variable-rate bonds will price on May 15, he said.

Proceeds of the bonds will refund $450 million series 2004B-G and $150 million series 2004I-K sales tax secured refunding auction-rate securities.

Goldman Sachs is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Rentech Inc. received approval this week to price $175 million in tax-exempt GO ZONE bonds for the company's planned synthetic fuels and chemicals facility near Natchez, Miss., according to a statement released Friday.

The company said it received allocation approval from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour for the bonds.

"The selection process was very competitive and we believe the award underscores the importance of the Natchez project to the state and its contribution to domestic energy security," D. Hunt Ramsbottom, president and chief executive officer of Rentech, said in a statement. "The award is an important step in our capital raising efforts for the project."

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Tennessee plans to get back into the municipal market with the sale of $380.9 million bonds in May and June, the issuer said Friday.

The Memphis-based health care system expects to price $110.9 million series 2008C fixed-rate revenue bonds on May 20, said Mark Barbieri, manager of treasury services.

Methodist Le Bonheur also intends to price $270 million series 2008A and B variable-rate bonds on June 11.

"We probably issue every three or four years on average depending on what the capital project need is to finance," he said.

The bonds (A2//) will price through the Health, Educational and Housing Facility of Shelby County, Tenn.

Morgan Keegan and JPMorgan are the managers of the negotiated sales.

Proceeds will be used to fund $184 million of projects, including the expansion of the Le Bonheur Germantown hospital and the new Le Bonheur Children's hospital, and to refinance and convert $70 million of the outstanding series 2004C auction-rate bonds and all of the series 1985C, series 1995 and series 1998 bonds.

ProMedica to sell $132 million

Also coming up, ProMedica Health System of Lucas County, Ohio, plans to price $132 million in series 2008 hospital revenue bonds and hospital revenue refunding bonds, a preliminary official statement said.

The bonds will be sold through Lucas County and the County of Lenawee Hospital Finance Authority.

The sale includes $62.5 million in series 2008A hospital revenue bonds and $52.855 million in series 2008B hospital revenue bonds sold through Lucas County, as well as $16.645 million in series 2008C hospital revenue refunding bonds sold through the County of Lenawee Hospital Finance Authority.

The series 2008A bonds are due Nov. 15, 2034, the 2008B bonds are due Nov. 15, 2040 and the 2008C bonds are due Nov. 15, 2035.

UBS Investment Bank is the lead manager for the negotiated deal.

Proceeds from the 2008A bonds will be used to refinance a portion of a bank loan, and proceeds from the 2008B bonds will also be used to refinance the bank loan and to finance capital improvements to the Toledo Hospital, Flower Hospital, ProMedica Continuing Care, Bay Park and Defiance and Fostoria. The 2008C bonds will be used to refinance a bank loan that was used to redeem the Lenawee County Hospital Authority's 2005B bonds.

Also ahead, Energy Northwest in Oregon intends to sell $273.27 million in series 2008D and 2008E revenue refunding bonds, a preliminary official statement said Friday.

The sale includes $72.31 million in series 2008D project 1 electric revenue refunding bonds, $127.955 million in series 2008D Columbia Generating Station electric revenue refunding bonds, $64.54 million in series 2008D project 3 electric revenue refunding bonds, $2.17 million in series 2008E project 1 electric revenue refunding bonds, $3.685 million in Columbia Generating Station electric revenue refunding bonds and $2.61 million in series 2008E project 3 electric revenue refunding bonds.

The 2008D project 1 bonds are due from 2009 to 2017, the 2008D Columbia Generating Station bonds are due from 2010 to 2012, and the 2008D project 3 bonds are due from 2009 to 2017. All of the 2008E bonds are due 2009.

The bonds will be sold on a negotiated basis with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup Global Markets as the lead managers.

Proceeds will be used to refund prior bonds.

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