Yields close flat after quiet day; Energy Northwest brings $669.12 million in four tranches

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, June 9 - The muni market stalled on Thursday after getting off to a positive start, said traders reached during the day. With little trading action to move the market forward and a sudden shift in Treasuries to knock back the gains, munis ended flat.

"It's been a pretty quiet day," said the trader.

"We had some early gains, but we shed those later on, and we've pretty much broken even."

Meanwhile, primary action was highlighted by Energy Northwest's $669.115 million sale of revenue and refunding bonds. The Washington state utility sold the bonds in four tranches Thursday, said a pricing sheet. The offering was upsized from $421.78 million.

The deal included $4.6 million of series 2011C Columbia Generating Station taxable electric revenue bonds, $441.24 million of series 2012A Columbia Generating Station electric revenue refunding bonds, $155.39 million of series 2012A Project 1 electric revenue refunding bonds and $67.885 million of series 2012A Project 3 electric revenue refunding bonds.

The 2011C Columbia bonds are due in 2019 and have a 3.55% coupon priced at par. The 2012 A Columbia bonds are due 2018 to 2021 with 5% coupons across the board. The 2012A Project 1 bonds are due 2013 to 2017 with 5% coupons. The 2012A Project 3 bonds are due in 2018 and have a 5% coupon priced at 111.006.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the senior managers.

Proceeds will be used to pay costs associated with operating the Columbia Generating Station and to refund existing Project 1, Columbia Generating Station and Project 3 bonds.

Massachusetts Port prices

In other pricing news, the Massachusetts Port Authority priced $214.06 million of series 2011 ConRAC project special facilities revenue bonds, said a pricing sheet.

The offering included $58.03 million of series 2011A tax-exempt non-AMT bonds and $156.03 million of series 2011B taxable bonds.

The bonds (A3/A/A-) were sold through Citigroup.

The 2011A bonds are due July 1, 2041, and have a 5.125% coupon priced at 97.381. The 2011B bonds are due 2012 to 2021 with term bonds due in 2031 and 2037. The serial coupons range from 0.9% to 5.105%, all priced at par. The 2031 bonds have a 6.202% coupon priced at par, and the 2037 bonds have a 6.352% coupon priced at par.

Proceeds will be used to construct and equip a consolidated rental car facilities at Boston-Logan International Airport.

Jacksonville sells bonds

Over in the competitive market, the City of Jacksonville, Fla., priced $87.975 million of series 2011B special revenue bonds, said a pricing sheet.

The bonds (Aa2/AA-/AA) were sold competitively with Raymond James & Associates Inc. as the winning bidder. The true interest cost came in at 2.943%.

The bonds are due 2013 to 2021 with 3% to 5% coupons.

Proceeds will be used to finance capital projects under the Better Jacksonville program.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.