Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and regional lender Huntington Bancshares Inc. brought fresh debt offerings in the US high-grade market Monday, as companies look to sell bonds before the cyclical summer slowdown that typically kicks in toward the end of August.
Bank of America is selling $5 billion of senior unsecured notes in four parts, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the details are private. The longest-dated note, a three-year fixed-rate security, will yield 0.9 percentage point over Treasuries, tighter than initial talks of around 1.1 percentage points, said the person. The sale marks the firm’s first operating company-level debt sale in about four years, CreditSights Inc. analyst Jesse Rosenthal wrote in a note.
Goldman Sachs is also in the market with $1.5 billion of fixed-rate perpetual notes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The offering will yield 7.5%, after initial pricing discussions in the area of 7.875%. The bank plans to use the proceeds to redeem preferred stock.
In raising fresh debt, the lenders join a slew of peers like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., which all issued bonds soon after emerging from earnings blackout periods in July.
Meanwhile, Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington sold $1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes, according to a person familiar with the transaction. The six-year fixed-to-floating rate notes yield 1.85 percentage points over Treasuries, after initial pricing discussions of around 2.15 percentage points, said the person. Proceeds from the sale are earmarked for general corporate purposes.
“The issuance continues the return of regional banks to the primary market after a lengthy absence in the wake of the March 2023 turmoil,” CreditSights analyst Peter Simon wrote in a Monday note. Huntington is the second bank of its size to tap the bond market since the string of regional bank failures earlier this year, following Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp, which issued debt in July.
Huntington’s debt sale also comes a week after Moody’s Investors Service lowered its ratings for 10 small and midsize lenders by one notch each, citing higher funding costs, possible regulatory capital weaknesses and growing risks related to commercial real estate amid weakening demand for office space. While Huntington was not one of the banks that was downgraded, the firm had its outlook changed to “negative” from “stable” by Moody’s.
Since the onset of the tumult in the broader banking sector, the nation’s biggest banks and regional lenders are facing new rules that would require firms to set aside more capital to protect them from insolvency. Such regulations will likely lead to more issuance from regional banks over time as lenders look to raise capital.
Entergy Arkansas, Otis Worldwide and Fiserv Inc. also marketed debt sales on Monday.
Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Fiserv declined to comment. Representatives for Bank of America, Huntington, Entergy and Otis did not reply to requests for comment.
--With assistance from Brian Smith and Josyana Joshua.
(Updates with deal launch and pricing details throughout, adds analyst commentary in paragraphs two and six.)
