By Patrick McGee Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) sold 10-year bonds at a record-matching low of 2.30% Monday. The 2.30% coupon matches the U.S. corporate bond market record set by Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) on Feb. 1, according to data provider Dealogic, and beats the company's own record of 2.45% from Nov. 3. The deal took more than $2 billion in orders, or four times the amount offered, according to an investor familiar with the transaction. But the record is slightly less impressive than P&G's. Whereas Colgate priced $500 million of bonds at 2.499%, or 0.58 percentage point over Monday's Treasury rate, P&G sold double that amount at 2.38%, or 0.55 point over the Treasury rate on Feb. 1. The more revealing comparison comes from stacking Colgate's borrowing cost next to that of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), which also issued bonds Monday. Wells paid 1.30 points over Treasurys on five-year bonds, while Goldman paid a 2.95-point-spread on three-year paper. "There is such a wide gulf between the solid, industrial credits and the finance names," said John Majoros, managing director and portfolio manager at Wasmer, Schroeder & Co., in Naples, Fla. The three deals are the first of what is expected to be upward of $20 billion sold this week. The last four weeks have seen an average $9.4 billion get sold as U.S. companies focused on releasing their earnings, but issuance is expected to pick up in May. Barclays noted last week that May issuance has averaged $77 billion the past decade, and projected $75 billion to $85 billion for next month. -By Patrick McGee, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2382; patrick.mcgee@dowjones.com
