Pre-holiday volume thins; Mylan prices $1.5 billion; General Mills holds investor calls

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., March 28 – Investment-grade bond issuance slowed on Wednesday with one reported corporate deal brought to the primary market.

Mylan Inc. priced $1.5 billion of senior notes in two tranches.

In other activity on Wednesday, General Mills, Inc. (Baa2/BBB/BBB+) held fixed-income investor calls arranged by BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, according to a market source.

General Mills announced plans in February to acquire Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. for $8 billion, or $40 per share, in cash. The Minneapolis-based consumer food products manufacturer said it expects to finance the acquisition with a combination of debt, cash on hand and about $1 billion of equity.

Volume was expected to be light over the week with about $10 billion to $15 billion of new supply forecast by market sources.

High-grade issuers priced more than $12 billion of notes in the first two sessions.

The bonds markets will close early on Thursday and reopen on Monday following the Good Friday holiday.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 30 index ended modesty softer at a spread of 68 basis points.

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