Nordic Investment Bank offers $1 billion; Nstar, Fidelity, Avangrid eyed; credit spreads ease

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., May 13 – Investment-grade issuers stayed to the sidelines on Monday following the year’s two biggest deals pricing in back-to-back sessions last week and as a trade war with China ratcheted up.

About $25 billion to $35 billion of investment-grade issuance is expected this week by market sources, though it could be as little as $5 billion depending on market tone.

More than $45 billion of high-grade bonds priced last week, including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s $19 billion of senior notes sold in nine tranches on Tuesday and International Business Machines Corp.’s $20 billion eight-part offering of notes priced on Wednesday.

Market action was fairly quiet at the start of the session with investors digesting the news that China will impose tariffs of as high as 25% on $60 billion of U.S. products starting June 1.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 32 index eased nearly 5 basis points over the day to a spread of 66 bps.

Meanwhile, issuance is expected on Tuesday from Nordic Investment Bank, which plans to price a $1 billion dollar-denominated offering of five-year global notes.

Several corporate bond deals also are expected to price in the near future.

On Monday, Nstar Electric Co., doing business as Eversource Energy, held fixed-income investor calls for a dollar-denominated green bond offering, according to a market source.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and TD Securities (USA) LLC are the arrangers.

The Boston-based company operates in the energy delivery business through utility subsidiaries.

Supply also is expected this week from Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., which finished a weeklong roadshow on Friday for a multicurrency bond deal to help finance its acquisition of Worldpay Inc.

In addition, a possible green bond offering from New Haven, Conn., electric and gas utility Avangrid, Inc. is being marketed with the company holding fixed-income investor calls on Friday, a source said.

Nordic Investment Bank on tap

Nordic Investment Bank (Aaa/AAA/) plans to price $1 billion of five-year global notes in an offering on Tuesday, according to a market source.

The notes due May 21, 2024 were initially talked to price with a spread in the mid-swaps plus 7 bps area.

Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and Nomura Securities International, Inc. are the bookrunners.

Nordic Investment Bank is an international financial institution owned by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.

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