Southwest Airlines $500 million notes issuance

Southwest Airlines has issued $500 million in 2.650% notes due 2020. The notes were sold to the public as a slight discount of 99.907% to par, which were priced with a 112.5 basis point spread to benchmark Treasuries.  The notes were rated Baa1 by Moody’s, BBB by Standard and Poor’s and BBB+ by Fitch. The notes will feature a five year tenor and will rank equally with Southwest’s existing unsecured debt. The funds will be used for general corporate purposes. Joint bookrunning managers are Citi, Merrill Lynch and Barclays. Co-managers are BNP Paribas and Wells Fargo.