New issue pricings stack up for coming week; Chicago Board of Education to sell $481.85 million

By Cristal Cody and Sheri Kasprzak

New York, April 18 - The coming week is shaping up to be another active week for new deal activity even as issuers continue to make strides to take care of their auction-rate securities.

Meanwhile, munis have been off a bit this week, a sell-side source told Prospect News Friday.

"Basically, we're following Treasuries, and Treasuries have been down most of the week," the source said.

"I'm still optimistic. Hopefully it will get better next week. We'll see how it goes."

Heading up the busy week of pricings, the Chicago Board of Education plans to price $481.85 million in unlimited tax general obligation refunding bonds on April 24, the issuer said Friday.

"We're expecting to price on the 24th, but it depends on market conditions," said Sandra Deangelus, debt manager.

The series 2008C bonds (A1/AA-/A+) have serial maturities from 2009 through 2033.

Lehman Brothers is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to refund the board's auction rate series 2003B1, B2 and B3 general obligation bonds and series 2004B1, B2, B3 and B4 general obligation refunding bonds.

The board also is underway with the sale of two refunding series through private placement, Deangelus said.

"That will be all of our outstanding auction-rate debt," she said.

In other coming pricings, Sutter Health in California intends to price $329.15 million revenue refunding bonds on Thursday and up to $300 million new money bonds May 8, the issuer told Prospect News.

The $329.15 million series 2008A bonds (Aa3/AA-/) will price through the California Health Facilities Financing Authority.

The exact amount has not been finalized for the series 2008B bonds, said Greg Gonzalez, treasury analyst.

"We're just trying to decide on the number of projects that need funding this year," he said.

Morgan Stanley is the senior manager of the negotiated sales for both series.

Proceeds from the series 2008A bonds will be used to refund Sutter Health's auction rate notes, Gonzalez said.

"The majority of our auction-rate notes are going to be refunded with this issue," Gonzalez said. "Then we have two other small parts of auction-rate notes that are going to be converted."

Arizona water authority bonds to price

In other pricing news, the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona plans to price its previously announced offering of $249.125 million in series 2008A water quality revenue bonds on April 22, a preliminary official statement said Friday.

The bonds (Aaa/AAA/AAA) will be sold on a negotiated basis with RBC Capital Markets and Stone & Youngberg as the senior managers.

The bonds are due 2009 to 2028.

Proceeds will be used to make loans connected to funding water quality improvement projects and to make a deposit to the authority's reserve account.

Puerto Rico tobacco bonds coming

Also coming up, the Children's Trust of Puerto Rico plans to price $205.29 million tobacco settlement asset-backed bonds, according to a preliminary official statement.

The $157.912 million series 2008A and $47.378 million series 2008B bonds will price for the non-profit, which handles funds created from the 1998 tobacco settlement with cigarette manufacturers.

The bonds have a preliminary maturity of May 15, 2058.

The series 2008 bonds are subordinated to the series 2002 and series 2005 asset-backed bonds and are not entitled to any payments until those series are no longer outstanding. The 2008B bonds will not be considered outstanding until the 2008A bonds are no longer outstanding, according to the statement.

Citigroup Global Markets is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to pay for government operating expenses and to fund grants.

Wayne County, Piedmont set to price

The Wayne County Airport Authority in Detroit plans to price $145 million airport revenue refunding bonds, according to a preliminary official statement.

The final pricing date is still under consideration for the series 2008A Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport bonds, a source said.

The bonds are insured through Assured Guaranty Corp.

Citigroup Global Markets is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to refund portions of the outstanding $141.72 million series 2002A airport revenue bonds.

The authority also expects to price variable-rate demand senior lien bonds in the second quarter of 2008 to refund $327.65 million auction-rate bonds that are insured by XL Capital Assurance.

The Piedmont Municipal Power Agency in South Carolina plans to price $144.845 million electric revenue bonds, according to a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The series 2008A bonds include $16.65 million series 2008A1 bonds, $39.175 million series 2008A2 bonds and $89.02 million series 2008A3 refunding bonds.

The agency also expects to price $193 million series 2008B bonds to refund outstanding variable rate bonds.

The series 2008A bonds (Aaa/AAA/AAA) are insured by Assured Guaranty Corp.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to finance repairs, modifications and additions to the Catawba nuclear station project.

Victoria ISD bonds price

Looking to Friday's light pricing action, the Victoria Independent School District in Victoria County, Texas, priced $59 million series 2008 unlimited tax school building bonds this week, a source said Friday.

Pricing terms were not available.

The bonds have maturities from 2010 through 2038.

Wachovia Bank, N.A., is the senior manager of the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to construct and equip school buildings in the district.

Carolinas HealthCare bids on bonds

Moving to auction-rate news, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, also known as the Carolinas HealthCare System, plans to bid an annual rate of 2.6% on $166.05 million revenue bonds in an upcoming auction on Tuesday, according to a notice released Friday.

The series 2007H variable rate health care bonds received a high bid of 6.97% and a low bid of 4% in an auction held earlier this past week.

Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global markets and Wachovia Bank, N.A. are the broker-dealers.

In other auction-rate news, the County of Lorain in Ohio announced its plans to convert $356.9 million in series 2003C adjustable-rate hospital revenue refunding bonds and series 2006 adjustable-rate hospital revenue bonds.

The bonds being refunded include $91 million in series 2003C-1 bonds and $90.9 million in series 2003C-2 bonds, as well as $50 million in series 2006A bonds, $50 million in series 2006B bonds and $75 million in series 2006H bonds.

All of the bonds were sold for Catholic Healthcare Partners.

The bonds will be converted to a fixed-rate mode from an auction-rate mode.

The 2003C-1 bonds will be converted on May 8 and the 2003C-2 bonds will be converted on May 9. The 2006A bonds will be converted on May 7 and the 2006B bonds will be converted on May 8. The 2006H bonds will convert on May 13.

Banc of America Securities and JPMorgan are the remarketing agents.

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