On February 16, 2022, Loop Capital Markets acted as a co-manager on a four-tranche, $4.6 billion senior unsecured fixed/floating rate notes offering for JPMorgan Chase & Co. The bonds are rated A2/A-/AA- across 4- and 6-year tranches.
Use of proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes.
On February 16, 2022, Loop Capital Markets served as a co-manager on a four-tranche, $2.4 billion, first mortgage bond offering for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The notes are rated Baa3/BBB- across 2-, 7-, 10- and 30-year tranches.
Use of proceeds are earmarked for the prepayment of all of the loans outstanding under the Utility 18-Month Term Loan Facility pursuant to the Utility Term Loan Credit Agreement, in an amount equal to $1.298 billion, and the remaining net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of borrowings outstanding under the Utility Revolving Credit Facility.
On February 16, 2022, Loop Capital Markets acted as a co-manager on a €750 million, senior unsecured bond offering for Mastercard Inc. The 7-year bond is rated A1/A+.
Use of proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes.
On February 15, 2022, Loop Capital Markets served as sole manager on the City of Chicago’s (the “City”) $25.2 million Special Assessment Improvement Bonds, Refunding Series 2022 (Lakeshore East Project) (the “Bonds”), which was unrated. Lakeshore East is a master-planned development that began in 2002 comprising approximately 26 acres in Chicago located adjacent to Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River. The Special Assessment Area encompasses most of the development and currently consists of 17 buildable parcels with the entire project to be developed within the next 10 years.
Proceeds of the Bonds were used to (i) refund all of the City’s Special Assessment Improvement Bonds, Series 2002 (Lakeshore East Project), (ii) fund certain reserves for the Bonds, and (iii) pay costs of issuance. The Series 2002 Bonds were refinanced to achieve a lower interest cost and to release eligible reserves in an effort to further pay down a portion of the debt. The Bonds were structured to achieve uniform savings with tax-exempt par coupon bonds amortizing from December 1, 2022 to December 1, 2032 with no optional redemption feature given the short final maturity.
Immediately following the release of the Preliminary Limited Offering Memorandum (“PLOM”), the Firm’s salesforce actively began the pre-marketing process and contacted a broad range of prospective accounts within the limitations of a limited public offering, including current holders of the Series 2002 Bonds. The Firm coordinated three investor one-on-one conference calls with the City and Developer and the PLOM was viewed by 39 investors.
The Firm successfully priced the transaction during a volatile market with MMD cuts of up to six basis points across the curve. Due to strong subscription levels, spreads were tightened by 7 basis points across all maturities from pre-pricing to final pricing. The average coupon of the refunding bonds was 3.109% which was a reduction of 54% from the 6.749% average coupon of the refunded bonds. The refunding generated $6.2 million of Net Present Value savings or $1.7 million of annual savings for Lakeshore East residents.
On February 15, 2022, Loop Capital Markets served as a co-manager on a three-tranche $1.5 billion senior unsecured notes offering for Enbridge Inc. The bonds are rated Baa1/BBB+.
Use of proceeds are earmarked to reduce existing indebtedness, partially fund capital projects, for working capital requirements, and for general corporate purposes.
On February 9, 2022, Loop Capital Markets acted as a co-manager on a two-tranche, $2 billion fixed/floating rate senior unsecured notes offering for Starbucks Corporation. The bonds are rated Baa1/BBB+/BBB across 2-and 10-year tranches.
Use of proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes which may include the repayment of outstanding indebtedness, including outstanding borrowings under their commercial paper program, the repurchase of their common stock under their ongoing share repurchase program, business expansion, payment of cash dividends, or the financing of possible acquisitions. Additionally, Starbucks may temporarily invest in short-term investments, including marketable securities.
On February 9, 2022, Loop Capital Markets acted as a co-manager on a four-tranche, $3.5 billion senior unsecured notes offering for Union Pacific Corporation. The bonds are rated Baa1/A-/A- across 10-year, 20-year, 31-year and 50-year tranches.
Use of proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes, including the repurchase of common stock pursuant to their share repurchase program.
On February 9, 2022, Loop Capital Markets acted as a co-manager on a three-tranche, $2.5 billion senior unsecured notes offering for Aptiv PLC. The bonds are rated Baa2/BBB across 3-year, 10-year, and 30-year tranches.
Use of proceeds are earmarked to fund a portion of the cash consideration, fees and expenses in connection with the Acquisition of Wind River Systems, Inc. and for general corporate purposes.
On February 8, 2022, Loop Capital Markets served as the Senior Manager on San Diego County Water Authority’s (the “Water Authority”) $170 million Water Revenue Bonds, Series 2022A (the “Bonds”). The Bonds were rated Aa2 (Stable) / AAA (Stable) / AA+ (Stable) by Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch, respectively.
Bond proceeds were used to finance a portion of the design, acquisition and construction of various capital projects in furtherance of the Water Authority’s Capital Improvement Program. The Bonds had a maturity structure, comprised of serial maturities from 2023-2042 and term bonds in 2047 and 2052. Serials structured with 5% coupons from 2023 to 2037 and 4% coupons in 2038 and thereafter while the 2047 and 2052 term bonds both had a 5% coupon, all with a 10-year call.
The Firm assisted the Water Authority in developing a comprehensive internet roadshow, primarily aimed at highlighting its credit and financial strength, progress with water supply diversification and water conservation efforts to address the drought and continued success in operating through COVID-19 among other things. The roadshow was ultimately viewed by 29 research analysts and investors. The Firm’s banking team, led by our dedicated credit and rating agency specialist, also worked very closely with the Water Authority to help develop a clear and effective rating agency presentation, which resulted in a positive change from a negative to a stable outlook from S&P.
Following the release of the POS and investor roadshow, the Firm’s salesforce actively began the pre-marketing process and contacted a broad range of prospective accounts. We also helped setup a one-on-one virtual meeting with an investor to help address credit questions which resulted in the investor putting in over $85 million in orders. The Firm was able to bring in orders from 27 new investors who were not current holders of the Water Authority’s debt. The Firm’s marketing efforts resulted in over $756 million in orders from 48 investors in total. Ultimately, the Firm successfully priced the Bonds in a challenging market characterized by heightened volatility, tightening muni market liquidity, and MMD cuts of up to 5 bps across the curve. The All-In TIC for the transaction was 3.08%.
On February 8, 2022, Loop Capital Markets served as a co-manager on a $500 million high yield senior secured notes offering for News Corporation. The 10-year bond is rated Ba2/BB+.
Use of proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes, including to fund the acquisitions of the Base Chemicals and Oil Price Information Service businesses from S&P Global Inc. and IHS Markit Ltd, which are undergoing a merger.
