Company Bond Sales Keep Rolling, With $3 Billion Added to Supply

   By Katy Burne and Mike Cherney 
 

High-quality companies hit the U.S. debt market Tuesday intending to borrow about $3 billion, drawn by falling interest rates and an optimistic mood among investors.

The rush of new bond sales comes on the heels of an issuance boom Monday that topped $10 billion and was one of the busiest days for new investment-grade debt deals this year.

Leading the charge this session is a unit of CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP), with an $800 million two-part offering. Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) and BB&T Corp. (BBT) each plan to sell $500 million in short-term notes.

Also in the market were technology distributor Ingram Micro Inc. (IM), intending to borrow $300 million; utility Southern Co.'s (SO) subsidiary Georgia Power for $350 million and real-estate investment trust National Retail Properties Inc. (NNN) for $250 million.

The deals offer a mix of maturities from three to 30 years, enticing both investors moving out of low-yielding Treasurys and those seeking higher yields by going out into longer-term corporate bonds. Company debt is benchmarked off Treasury rates.

The pace of issuance so far this month beats the first seven calendar days of August last year, when $10.2 billion of new high-grade bond sales hit the market, according to data provider Dealogic. The busiest first week of August since 1995, however, was two years ago when the first week of August saw $34 billion.

-Write to Katy Burne at [e-mail]

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