Corporate Bond Market Prices $9.25 Billion

   By Patrick McGee 
 

Investors thirsty for high-grade bonds had ample opportunity Monday from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD) and four other borrowers.

The beer maker sold $4 billion worth of bonds in a four-pack featuring three-, five-, 10-, and 30-year maturities. The deal formed the bulk of a $9.25 billion session for high-grade debt sales Monday, indicating broad support for new deals even after $42 billion worth was priced last week in the second-busiest week on record, per Dealogic.

Syndicate desks arranging new deals are expecting more than $20 billion to price this week.

The Inbev bonds ranged in yield from 0.802% to 4.028%, reflecting narrow risk premiums to Treasurys of between 0.43 percentage point and 1.0 percentage points.

The single-A-range-rated jumbo deal is one of the largest this month, and InBev is no stranger to big offerings. It sold $7.5 billion in July to finance its acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.

Investors have been eager to purchase high-grade bonds this month to capture higher yields than Treasurys but maintain a high degree of safety. Higher rates provide better protection against the threat of rising interest rates.

USAA Investments says it has cut back on equities and bulked up on high-grade bonds in anticipation of market turbulence as politicians fight over U.S. borrowing limits.

"We hold a higher-than-normal allocation in fixed-income securities-primarily in corporate bonds-as a defensive position as we move through the debates in Washington," the firm said in a note Monday.

Monday's bonds were placed despite an index of bond-buyer confidence waning 2.6%, according to Markit.

National Australia Bank Limited (NAB.AU) saw so much demand for its two-part offering of double-A rated bonds that it added a third tranche of two-year floating-rate notes. The three-part deal totaled $2.5 billion, with three- and 10-year notes yielding 0.97% and 3.022%.

Among other deals, Penske Truck Leasing Co. borrowed $1 billion in five- and 10-year bonds, yielding 2.918% and 4.357%, respectively.

Write to Patrick McGee at [e-mail]

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