MBIA was in the market last week with a series from its Meridian Funding, which is MBIA's "black box" medium term note funding vehicle.
The deal was structured as two $500 million, triple-A-rated A classes, with the five-year A1 class pricing at one-month Libor plus 30 basis points and the ten-year A2 class pricing at one-month Libor plus 42 basis points.
Merrill Lynch and Bear, Stearns & Co. split the books, with Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown as co-managers. The deal was placed in the Rule 144A market.
Meridian issues medium term notes similar to the way a conduit issues asset-backed commercial paper. The vehicle was established in 1997, and MBIA, which is the program administrator, has issued from Meridian 14 times, for $3.5 billion in outstandings, since its inception.
