Goldman Sachs plans bond sale of at least $12 billion after Q4 results

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is seeking to raise at least $12 billion from an investment-grade bond sale, accelerating issuance by Wall Street’s biggest banks after releasing fourth-quarter results. 

Wells Fargo & Co. and Morgan Stanley are also tapping the high-grade bond market, a day after JPMorgan Chase & Co. kicked off the sector’s latest round of note sales with a $6 billion transaction.  

Goldman is marketing a deal in as many as six tranches spanning three to 21 years, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who also asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Initial pricing discussions call for a 1.05 percentage-point premium above Treasures on the longest-tenored bond. 

The offering comes after the lender reported a Wall Street record $4.31 billion in equities-trading revenue in the final three months of last year, blowing through expectations. Goldman also has significant debt maturing in 2026.  

Goldman’s biggest-ever sale was $12 billion in 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The firm declined to comment. 

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo is offering bonds in as many as four parts with tenors of four to 21 years, another person said. Initial price talk is for a spread of 0.95 to 1 percentage point over Treasuries on the longest tranche, that person added. And Morgan Stanley is also looking to sell debt in as many as four parts, a different person said. Initial price talk is for a spread in the area of 1.4 percentage point over Treasuries on the longest tranche, that person added. 

The bank issuance spree comes after a slow start to investment-grade bond sales this week, as worries over credit-card interest-rate caps and broader macroeconomic tensions weighed on the market. Dealers had projected about $60 billion of issuance for the full week. 

The biggest Wall Street firms typically issue investment-grade bonds shortly after releasing quarterly results. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. have yet to sell notes following this week’s releases. Barclays Plc estimated in December that roughly $35 billion of issuance this month will come from the Big Six lenders, climbing to about $55 billion by quarter-end.