Primary slows with deals from CRH, OeKB, NRW; Verizon tightens on AOL acquisition plans

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

Virginia Beach, May 12 – CRH America Inc., Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG and NRW Bank were the only names pricing new investment-grade deals on Tuesday, while the bulk of potential issuers chose to remain on the sidelines amidst volatile Treasuries.

Despite the market backdrop, CRH sold both tranches of its new $1.75 billion offering at the tight end of price talk, and the deal attracted more than $5 billion of orders.

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank also sold a new $1.5 billion offering of two-year notes on Tuesday at the tight end of guidance, while NRW Bank sold $1 billion of three-year notes.

Two sovereign issuers, the Province of Ontario and Finland, each announced plans to price respective bond offerings later this week.

Players predict the pace of issuance to resume on Wednesday, with one source calling for a “very large” day.

In total, the investment-grade primary market has seen more than $14.93 billion of supply so far this week.

Verizon Communications Inc.’s bonds (Baa1/BBB+/A-) tightened over the session following the company’s early morning announcement that it will acquire AOL Inc. for $4.4 billion in cash.

The bonds traded modestly softer ahead of the announcement.

AT&T Inc.’s bonds (Baa1/BBB+/A-) traded mostly better on the day.

Microsoft Corp.’s 2.7% notes due 2025 improved 1 basis point but remained wider than issuance.

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