Vodafone prices $11.5 billion; Microchip, Santander, Equifax sell notes; pipeline builds

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., May 23 – Investment-grade supply picked up substantially Wednesday with more than $17 billion of bonds priced over the session.

The bulk of issuance came from Vodafone Group plc’s $11.5 billion six-tranche sale of senior notes.

Vodafone’s deal saw an order book of $36 billion, a source said.

Also on Wednesday, Microchip Technology Inc. priced $2 billion of senior secured notes in two parts.

Santander UK plc sold $1.75 billion of senior notes in two tranches.

Equifax Inc. priced an upsized $1 billion of senior notes in three tranches.

In addition, Harris Corp. priced $850 million of 10-year senior notes.

The volume comes on the heels of two sessions that saw less than $3 billion of bonds print.

About $25 billion of supply is forecast for the week.

In other deal action on Wednesday, TMX Group Ltd. priced C$200 million of 10-year senior debentures.

In addition, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce priced a Canadian dollar-denominated seven-year deposit note during the session, according to a market source. Additional details were not immediately available.

The deals are the first to price in the Canadian high-grade primary market this week following the Victoria Day holiday on Monday, a source said.

Coming up in the U.S. primary market on Thursday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to price dollar-denominated five-year notes.

Elsewhere, Petrofac Ltd.’s offering of $300 million of five-year notes (Ba1/BBB-/BBB-) expected to price in the previous week in a Rule 144A and Regulation S transaction has not been seen in marketing, according to sources.

Fixed-income investor calls for the offering via J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and MUFG were held May 9-10.

Fitch Ratings assigned a first-time long-term issuer rating of BBB- to the London-based oilfield services provider and its senior bonds on May 8.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 30 index closed modestly softer at a spread of 62 basis points.

Vodafone prices $11.5 billion

Vodafone (Baa1/BBB+/BBB+) priced $11.5 billion of senior notes in six tranches in Wednesday’s offering, according to a market source.

Vodafone sold $1 billion of floating-rate notes due Jan. 16, 2024 at Libor plus 99 bps.

The $2 billion tranche of 3.75% short six-year notes priced at a spread of Treasuries plus 110 bps.

The company sold $1.5 billion of 4.125% seven-year notes at a spread of 135 bps over Treasuries.

Vodafone priced $3 billion of 4.375% 10-year notes with a Treasuries plus 155 bps spread.

In the 20-year tranche, the company sold $1 billion of 5% notes at a spread of 200 bps over Treasuries.

Also, Vodafone priced $3 billion of 5.25% 30-year notes at a 215 bps over Treasuries spread.

Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and RBC Capital Markets LLC were the bookrunners.

The telecommunications company is based in London.

Microchip prices $2 billion

Microchip Technology priced $2 billion of senior secured notes (Baa3//BBB-) in two tranches on Wednesday, according to a market source.

The company sold $1 billion of 3.922% notes due June 1, 2021 at a spread of 125 bps over Treasuries.

Microchip priced $1 billion of 4.333% five-year notes with a Treasuries plus 150 bps spread.

Both tranches priced on the tight side of guidance.

Final price talk for the three-year notes was in the Treasuries plus 130 bps area, plus or minus 5 bps, and the notes were initially talked at Treasuries plus 150 bps to 162.5 bps.

Final price talk on the five-year notes was in the Treasuries plus 155 bps area, plus or minus 5 bps, and the notes were initially talked at Treasuries plus 175 bps to 187.5 bps.

Active bookrunners were BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Securities and Wells Fargo Securities LLC.

Microchip Technology is a Chandler, Ariz., manufacturer of microcontroller, memory and analog semiconductors.

Santander sells notes

Santander UK priced $1.75 billion of senior notes (Aa3/A/A) in two tranches, according to a market source.

The $750 million tranche of three-year floating-rate notes priced at Libor plus 62 bps.

Santander sold $1 billion of 3.40% three-year fixed-rate notes at a spread of Treasuries plus 80 bps.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Santander Investment Securities Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities were the bookrunners.

The financial services company is based in London.

Equifax upsizes

Equifax priced $1 billion of senior notes (Baa1/BBB+/) in three tranches, according to a market source and an FWP filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company placed $300 million of floating-rate notes due Aug. 15, 2021 at par to yield Libor plus 87 bps.

Equifax sold $300 million of 3.60% long three-year notes at 99.64 to yield 3.716%, or a Treasuries plus 105 bps spread.

The final $400 million tranche of 3.95% five-year notes priced at 98.968 to yield 4.178%. The notes were sold with a Treasuries plus 135 bps spread.

The deal was initially expected to include two tranches of notes and was upsized from $600 million at the launch.

J.P. Morgan Securities, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc., BofA Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Securities USA Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities were the bookrunners.

Atlanta-based Equifax is an information technology provider that collects and organizes credit, financial, public record, demographic and marketing information on individuals and businesses.

Harris prices $850 million

Harris priced $850 million of 4.4% 10-year senior notes (Baa3/BBB-/BBB) at a spread of Treasuries plus 140 bps on Wednesday, according to an FWP filing with the SEC.

The notes priced at 99.99 to yield 4.401%.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Citigroup Global Markets, J.P. Morgan Securities, BofA Merrill Lynch, U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., Wells Fargo Securities, HSBC Securities and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. were the bookrunners.

The communications and information company is based in Melbourne, Fla.

New supply ahead

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (/A+/) plans to price a Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of dollar-denominated five-year notes on Thursday, according to a market source.

The notes are initially talked to price in the mid-swaps plus 45 bps area.

Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets, J.P. Morgan Securities and Nomura Securities International, Inc. are the bookrunners.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government is the government of the Tokyo metropolis in Japan with headquarters based in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.

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