CORRECT:2nd UPDATE:Full Speed For Corp. Bond Sellers, Buyers
04 June 2009 - 7:37AM
Dow Jones News
Companies from all sectors of the credit markets came to market
with bond offerings Wednesday, including a $4.5 billion deal from
lender GMAC LLC that benefited from government backing.
Rates in the corporate debt markets are at multiyear lows,
allowing a multitude of companies to raise cheap funding from
investors eager for returns that on average are double those
available on government debt.
U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade supply totaled $113.4
billion in May, according to Dealogic, and given the current market
environment, June could top that. In the first two days alone, $3.8
billion in new offerings were sold, according to Dealogic.
"The buying frenzy continues unabated," said Tom Murphy, sector
leader and portfolio manager at RiverSource Investments. "We have
heard June's calendar is going to be huge....The market is open to
anyone."
The difference in risk premiums between a newly sold issue and
an outstanding one from the same or a comparable company, known as
the concession, has drastically narrowed over the past several
months as investors have also been snapping up corporate debt in
the secondary market.
Wednesday's docket included billion-dollar deals from U.K.
telecoms group Vodafone PLC (VOD) and U.S. insurer MetLife Inc.
(MET), as well as a $1 billion dollar offering from Brazil's
development bank BNDES which yielded 6.546%.
GMAC LLC, the auto lender affiliated with bankrupt auto giant
General Motors Corp. (GMGMQ) sold its first government-guaranteed
note Wednesday.
The $4.5 billion offering was split into a $3.5 billion
three-year fixed rate part, which yielded 2.247%, or 0.80
percentage point over Treasurys. The $1 billion three-year floating
rate part was sold with a yield equivalent to three-month Libor, a
benchmark rate for short-term lending. Three-month Libor was fixed
Wednesday at 0.63688%.
Junk-rated GMAC converted to a bank holding company late last
year and received permission from regulators to issue up to $7.4
billion in debt on May 21. Currently, GMAC's unsecured debt is
rated C by Moody's Investors Service and CCC by Standard &
Poor's.
The sale of FDIC-backed debt and access to the FDIC's program is
crucial to the company's survival, said James Lee, senior
fixed-income analyst at Calvert Asset Management Co. "Otherwise,
they would have to tap the market with bonds that yield 11% to 12%
and have a large interest expense burden," he said.
Banc of America Securities LLC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and JP
Morgan underwrote the issue.
Risk premiums on FDIC-backed debt have ratcheted in since the
program began.
When Goldman Sachs (GS) sold the first issue via the FDIC
program in November 2008, the 3.5-year note was priced at a risk
premium of 2.00 percentage points over Treasurys. That issue was
bid at 0.39 point over Treasurys, according to Tradeweb, an
electronic trading platform.
-By Kellie Geressy and Andrew Edwards; Dow Jones Newswires;
201-938-2050; kellie.geressy@dowjones.com
(Kate Haywood contributed to this report.)