Suffolk County sells $310 million with 0.82% NIC; Cascade Healthcare of Oregon brings $97.62 million

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 18 - Despite a more limited calendar of upcoming sales this week, some offerings did get priced on Thursday.

As the week winds down, municipals insiders were losing hope that a large number of offerings would be pricing before the year draws to a close.

"At this point, the year might as well be over because no one is really looking to do anything," said one sellside source reached Thursday afternoon.

"I have no doubt it will be more active in January, but things are very, very slow, as they normally are this time of year."

Suffolk sells TANs

Be that as it may, some pricings did take place on Thursday, led by Suffolk County, N.Y., which priced $310 million in series 2008 tax anticipation notes.

The notes, due August 2009, priced with a net interest cost of 0.82%, which is the lowest NIC the county has ever achieved, according to a Suffolk statement.

The competitive offering attracted 23 bids with Citigroup Global Markets, Banc of America Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. all taking pieces of the deal.

"This record-breaking low interest rate is also the result of the county being rated so highly by the Wall Street credit agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch," Joseph Sawicki, the county's comptroller, said in a statement.

The full details of the sale were not immediately available.

Proceeds will be used for capital expenses ahead of the collection of property taxes by the county.

"Clearly, the financial markets have again indicated their faith in the county's financial stability," Sawicki said.

"This is a major savings for Suffolk County taxpayers as interest costs will be $2.4 million less than budgeted for 2009."

Cascade Healthcare's bonds

In other sales from Thursday, the Hospital Facility Authority of Deschutes County in Oregon priced $97.615 million in series 2008 hospital revenue refunding bonds for Cascade Healthcare Community, said a pricing sheet released by a sellside source.

The bonds (A3) are due 2013 to 2018 with term bonds due 2023, 2028 and 2038. The coupons on the serials range from 5.5% to 7.25%. The yields for the serials were not immediately available on Thursday afternoon.

The 2023 bonds have a 7.375% coupon to yield 7.5%, the 2028 bonds have an 8% coupon to yield 8.25% and the 2038s have an 8.25% coupon to yield 8.5%.

Morgan Stanley & Co. was the lead manager for the negotiated sale.

Proceeds will be used to refund, redeem or defease Cascade Healthcare's series 2005A hospital revenue bonds and pay fees associated with an interest rate swap termination.

Secondary market firms again

Moving to the secondary market, the tone remained upbeat Thursday with municipals gaining a few basis points yet again, said a trader reached in the afternoon.

"I'd say a few basis points up," he said.

"Trading volume is still pretty low. We're not seeing a great number of things trading. A few small trades is what we've seen mostly today."

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