(Adds Dell, Walgreens)
By Hillary Flynn and Davide Scigliuzzo
NEW YORK, May 6 (IFR) - The US investment-grade bond marketis gearing up for what could be one of the biggest issuanceweeks of the year, including an expected jumbo acquisitionfinancing for computer giant Dell.
Syndicate desks upped their estimates for next week onFriday as new deals started filtering into the pipeline, andseveral said the tally could go to US$50bn or beyond.
"There are some chunky trades to be done and a decent slugof M&A," said one syndicate banker.
Dell is eyeing at least US$12bn-US$13bn, according to abanker on the deal, who said marketing for the investment-gradeoffering could begin as early as Monday.
The trade is part of a larger financing package, which alsoincludes high-yield bonds, to help fund its acquisition of datastorage products maker EMC.
Kraft Heinz meanwhile was holding calls with investors onFriday ahead of a potential US dollar deal.
The company is also talking with euro and sterlinginvestors, and it could raise as much as US$8bn-equivalent, oneinvestor told IFR.
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance is also scheduled tomeet fixed-income investors next week, though no bond sale isexpected immediately following the meetings, sources said.
"We have four to five trades looking at next week," a secondsyndicate banker said.
JOBS DISAPPOINT
Bucking what has been a trend this year, issuers stayed onthe sidelines Friday after the nonfarm payrolls print was softerthan expected.
But the week still closed at US$29.5bn, still well past whathad been expected.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 160,000 jobs last month, farbelow the 202,000 economists polled by Reuters had forecast onaverage.
The number was also lower than the first-quarter averagemonthly job growth of 200,000.
That spurred a sell-off in equities and credit derivativesin the morning, though by the afternoon stocks were in positiveterritory.
Even amid renewed concerns about growth, deals are expectedto clear the market fairly easily, and new issues from this weekhave held up well in secondary.
Technicals are strong, with US$2.098bn flowing intoinvestment-grade funds for the week ended May 4, bringing theyear-to-date net inflow to US$7.883bn, Lipper data show.
A stronger bid from Asian investors is also expected toemerge following holidays in the region.
"I expect you'll start to see ... Asian buyers stepping backin full force next week," said Matt Brill, portfolio manager atInvesco. (Reporting by Hillary Flynn and Davide Scigliuzzo; Editing byNatalie Harrison and Marc Carnegie)
