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Elevance Sells $5.2 Billion of Bonds Amid Stock Slump

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(Bloomberg) -- Elevance Health Inc. sold $5.2 billion of investment-grade bonds Tuesday as the big US insurer’s shares have slumped following a disappointing earnings forecast.

The company issued notes in six parts, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified discussing private details. The longest portion of the offering, an $800 million 40-year bond, will yield 1.38 percentage point above comparable Treasuries, versus initial discussions of around 1.75 percentage point.

Orders for the bonds peaked above $36 billion.

The sale proceeds may be used for funding acquisitions, refinancing debt, and buying back stock, among other possible purposes, the person said. Last week, Elevance reached a deal to buy Tennessee home-health firm Carebridge.

Elevance shares have fallen nearly 16% since Oct. 16’s close, the biggest four-day drop since 2020. The firm projected flat adjusted per-share earnings for this year and a slower increase for 2025 than previously anticipated amid Medicaid-related costs.

Elevance was one of two companies in the US investment-grade market with bond deals on Tuesday.

The insurer declined to comment, as did Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., two of the bond sale’s underwriters. Morgan Stanley, the deal’s third underwriter, didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

(Adds pricing and order details. An earlier version of this story corrected the spread and the start date of the stock decline.)

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