Berkshire Hathaway, PepsiCo, Everest Reinsurance, Leidos, WEC Energy, Swedish Export price

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Oct. 5 – The investment-grade primary market stayed busy on Monday with more than $8 billion of corporate and sovereign, supranational and agency bonds priced.

Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corp. sold $2.5 billion of guaranteed senior notes (Aa2/AA/A+) in two tranches.

The deal included $750 million of 10-year notes and $1.75 billion of 30-year notes.

PepsiCo Inc. priced $1.5 billion of senior notes (A1/A+/) in two parts, as well as €1.5 billion of fixed-rate senior notes in two tranches.

PepsiCo sold $750 million of three-year notes in an inaugural tranche of diversity and inclusion bonds and a $750 million offering of notes due Feb. 25, 2031.

Everest Reinsurance Holdings Inc. came by with $1 billion of 30-year senior notes (Baa1/A-/A.M. Best: a-) on Monday, dropping a 10-year tranche from the final deal following fixed income investor calls held last week.

Leidos Holdings Inc. priced $1 billion of guaranteed senior notes due Feb. 15, 2031 (Baa3/BBB-/) in a Rule 144A and Regulation S offering on Monday.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. priced $950 million of senior notes (Baa1/BBB+/BBB+) in two parts, including $500 million tranche of seven-year notes and $450 million of 10-year notes.

Protective Life Global Funding brought $500 million of three-year funding agreement-backed notes (A1/AA-/A+) to the primary market.

Also, Swedish Export Credit Corp. sold $1.25 billion of global notes due Sept. 29, 2023 (Aa1/AA+/) on Monday.

About $15 billion to $20 billion of high-grade supply is expected this week as volume thins due to earnings-related blackout periods, according to syndicate sources.

More than $18 billion of investment-grade notes priced last week.

Credit spreads tighten

In other activity on Monday, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced plans to fund a $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia, Inc. with cash and debt. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Bristol-Myers priced a $19 billion nine-tranche Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of senior notes (A2/A+/) in 2019 to fund its acquisition of Celgene Corp.

Market tone was mixed on Monday with stock indices up more than 1.6% on the day, while the iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF declined 0.33% to 134.36.

The PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index fell 0.24% to 114.59.

Credit spreads improved more than 2.6 basis points over the session from Friday.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 35 index closed at a spread of 56.58 bps.

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