Financials Take the Largest Slice of the Financing Pie

Corporate bond markets came back from the holidays with a roar. There were over $50 billion in new U.S. dollar issues last week. The biggest players by far were banks, automaker credit arms, and other financials with over $30 billion of the total.

Leading the charge was Bank of America with $6 billion spread over new three-, five-, and 10-year paper. Typical for banks, there wasn't anything beyond "general corporate purposes" for use of proceeds in the SEC filing.

Berkshire Hathaway's finance corporation sold $500 million split between five- and 10-year notes. Mr. Buffett and Co. are using the money to redeem some maturing paper.

The table below lists the financial borrowers, their home countries, and how much they put on their credit cards.

Sources: Reuter's, SEC filings and corporate press releases.

Not all the borrowers were financials. Here are profiles for a few more of the deals.

MarkWest Energy piped in $1 billion with a 10.5-year note sale. A little over half the money will go toward a tender offer for higher rate paper. The rest will go to "fund our capital expenditure program, for general working capital and for other partnership purposes."

Windstream dialed up $700 million in 10-year notes at 6.375%. The money will finance a tender offer for $650 million of 8.875% notes. The company should save about $13 million per year in debt service.

Sticking with a refinance theme, Staples hit the easy button for a total of $1 billion in five- and 10-year notes to cover a tender offer for higher rate notes . The deal should cut its debt service expense by about $35 million per year.

Companies with good credit, and some with not-so-good credit, continue to have little trouble borrowing at very low rates and are able to reduce debt service costs when existing paper matures or by buying back existing higher coupon debt.

Warren Buffett's long track record of success has made him one of the best investors of all time. With Buffett at the helm, Berkshire Hathaway has grown book value per share at a compounded annual rate of 19.8% for nearly 50 years! Despite an incredible historical track record, investors have to understand the key issues to watch moving forward. To help investors, the Fool's resident Berkshire Hathaway expert, Joe Magyer, has created this premium research report on the company. Inside you'll receive ongoing updates as key news hits, as well as reasons to both buy and sell the stock. Claim a copy by clicking here now.

• Add Windstream to My Watchlist.

• Add Staples to My Watchlist.

• Add MarkWest Energy Partners to My Watchlist.

• Add Berkshire Hathaway to My Watchlist.

• Add Bank of America to My Watchlist.

The article Financials Take the Largest Slice of the Financing Pie originally appeared on Fool.com.

Russ Krull has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, and Staples. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.