California Offers $2 Billion General-Obligation Bonds
California said individual investors ordered 12.5 percent of $2 billion in general-obligation bonds the state is selling at yields of as much as 4.87 percent for 30-year debt.
The state took orders for $250 million of $1.8 billion in tax-exempt bonds in the sale, according to Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Treasurer Bill Lockyer. Preliminary yields ranged as low as 1.15 percent on three-year securities, Dresslar said by e-mail.
Ten-year bonds were priced to yield 3.51 percent, or 0.34 percentage point more than comparable-maturity securities in a $2.5 billion sale in September. The 30-year bonds were offered at 7 basis points more than in September.
“We were under no illusions that we were going to have to take a slight bump due to the market trend,” Dresslar said in a telephone interview.
During the September sale, the state sold a total of 25 percent of the bonds to individual investors after two days.
The 10-year bonds in today’s sale were offered at 98 basis points above top-rated tax-exempt debt, while the 30-year bonds were offered at 117 basis points above AAA debt. That’s down from 109 basis points on 10-year bonds in September and up from 114 basis points on the 30-year bonds. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
The so-called retail sale is expected to conclude tomorrow, followed by a orders from institutional investors Oct. 19, Dresslar said. In addition to the $1.8 billion in tax-exempt bonds, California is offering $200 million in taxable debt.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Wedbush Securities Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. are managing the sale.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Nash in Sacramento at jnash24@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
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