McDonald's Corp. and Qwest Corp. led at least $8.22 billion in company bond sales in the U.S. Tuesday on the busiest day for issuance in almost two weeks as optimism grew that Europe's debt crisis will be contained.
McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, sold $500 million of 2.625 percent notes due in January 2022 that yield 78 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Denver-based Qwest, a unit of CenturyLink Inc., issued $950 million of debt maturing in December 2021 that pay a spread of 500 basis points, or 5 percentage points, Bloomberg data show.
Corporate bond offerings rebounded after falling last week to $1.7 billion, the lowest level this year, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner predicting that European governments will use more force to resolve the region's crisis. Companies from 3M Co. to AES Corp. issued $3.2 billion of debt yesterday, Bloomberg data show.
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"Issuers were waiting for a day or two of stability," Timothy Cox, executive director of debt capital markets at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, said in a telephone interview. "We're going to be looking back at these yields and every treasurer's going to wish they issued at these levels."
Sanofi, France's biggest drugmaker, sold $1 billion of three-year, 1.2 percent notes that pay a spread of 83 basis points, Bloomberg data show. AMR Corp., owner of American Airlines, plans to raise $726 million of debt backed by Boeing jets.
Companies have issued $62.4 billion of bonds this month through yesterday, including $12.2 billion on Sept. 14, Bloomberg data show.
Yields on investment-grade corporate bonds averaged 3.92 percent yesterday, compared with an all-time low 3.45 percent on Aug. 4, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Borrowing costs have dropped from 4.1 percent on Dec. 31.
Bloomberg News
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