Pfizer unit Zoetis on Wednesday drew strong demand for its debut bond offering, a $3.65 billion four-part deal that attracted an order book of about $30 billion and allowed it to sharply tighten pricing from original guidance, according to market sources. The company, which develops and makes animal health medicines and vaccines, built the order book within hours of announcing the deal. That in turn allowed it to tighten guidance by 30-45 basis points from initial price guidance. “The response to this transaction seems to show that even though the underlying tone is cautious in the high-grade market, there is still demand for new names with a growth story,” said one banker. A number of factors seem to have supported the Baa2/BBB- rated company’s first ever bond offering. The deal comes at a time when Zoetis is in the process of finalizing a $2 billion initial public offering, expected to launch in the next few days and price before month-end, according to several sources. JP Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are leading the offering.
