High-grade supply strong; FMS, Telefonica, Chevron, Becton, Anthem, Marsh, Essex price

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Feb. 27 – High-grade deal action remained busy on Tuesday with strong volume expected by market sources over the week.

In SSA supply, FMS Wertmanagement priced $1.5 billion of five-year senior notes tighter than initial talk.

Telefonica Emisiones SAU tapped the primary market with $2 billion of guaranteed senior notes in two parts.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC/Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP priced $1.05 billion of senior notes in two tranches.

Becton, Dickinson and Co. sold $1 billion of floating-rate notes due Dec. 29, 2020.

Anthem, Inc. priced $850 million of 30-year notes.

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. placed an upsized $600 million of 30-year senior notes.

Essex Portfolio, LP brought $300 million of 30-year guaranteed senior notes to the primary market.

For the week, syndicate sources expect about $25 billion to $30 billion of bond issuance.

There also is talk of a major bond deal in the near future from CVS Health Corp., an informed source said. The company’s $69 billion cash and stock acquisition of Aetna Inc. is expected to close in the second half of 2018. CVS Health and Aetna both have shareholder meetings scheduled on March 13 to approve the merger.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 29 index eased more than 1 basis point to close the day at a spread of 54 bps.

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