Goldman, Sachs & Co. dominated the underwriting of long-term municipal bonds in the first half of 1991, serving as lead-manager for 141 issues totaling $11.2 billion, according to figures compiled by Securities Data Co./Bond Buyer.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe remained the leading bond counsel in the first half, with 102 issues totalling $5.19 billion, and Public Financial Management Inc. surged into the lead among financial advisers, with 117 issues totaling $4.39 billion, according to the rankings, which were compiled by The Bond Buyer from Securities Data's data base.
Goldman Sachs, which finished 1990 as the second-biggest underwriter behind Merrill Lynch & Co., strengthened the commanding lead it took in the first quarter by dominating all four major underwriting categories -- negotiated, competitive, revenue, and general obligation bonds. The firm managed 53 issues totaling $5.4 billion in the first quarter and 88 issues totaling $5.8 billion in the second.
Goldman's $11.2 billion senior-manager total for the first six months accounted for 15.4% of the overall market and was nearly as much as the second-place and third-place managers, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Lehman Brothers, put together. Merrill Lynch managed $6.48 billion and Lehman Brothers, which ranked fifth for all of 1990, managed $4.75 billion.
Dominates Negotiated
Goldman led the negotiated sector by a whopping margin, with 121 issues totaling $8.85 billion -- more than $4 billion ahead of its nearest competitor, Merrill Lynch.
Goldman was the leader in the competitive bond market, as well, with 20 issues totaling $2.34 billion. More than half of this total came from a single sale -- California's $1.26 billion general obligation issue on Feb. 27, the largest competitive bond sale ever and the fifth-largest municipal bond issue on record.
The California and New York issues helped put Goldman on top in revenue bond underwriting, with 127 issues totaling $8.31 billion, and general obligation bonds, with 14 issues worth $2.88 billion.
Goldman Sachs was not as dominant in the purpose categories, but it was the leader in four sectors -- electric power, with $791 million; environmental facilities, with $1.02 billion; industrial development, with $467 million; and transportation, with $1.38 billion -- and it was second in three others -- health care, with $845 million; housing, with $887 million; and utilities, with $979 million.
Following Goldman, Merrill, and Lehman in the senior manager rankings were First Boston Corp., with $4.7 billion; Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., with $3.86 billion; Morgan Stanley & Co., with $2.9 billion; Bear, Stearns & Co., with $2.84 billion; PaineWebber Inc., with $2.78 billion; Prudential Securities Inc., with $1.96 billion; and Kidder, Peabody & Co., with $1.2 billion.
The leading underwriter among commercial banks was First Chicago Capital Markets, in 12th place with $1.1 billion. Three other banks were close behind: BT Securities Corp., 13th win $968.2 million; J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., 14th with $967.9 million; and Bank of America, 15th with $926 million.
Goldman also ranked first among co-managers, in which each manager gets full credit for an issue, with 238 issues worth $22.53 billion. Next was Merrill Lynch with $21.2 billion, Smith Barney with $18.86 billion, Lehman with $17.6 billion, and Prudential with $15.08 billion.
Orrick Herrington, which was the leading bond counsel in 1990, held onto the top spot in the first half of 1991, with the $1.26 billion California GO sale accounting for nearly one-quarter of its $5.19 billion total. The California issue was big enough to propel Orrick's co-counsel, Grant & Duncan, into 10th place among bond counsel for the first six months.
Orrick Herrington was followed by Brown & Wood, with $4.05 billion; Chapman & Cutler, with $3.14 billion; Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, with $3.05 billion; and Hawkins, Delafield & Wood, with $2.65 billion.
Public Financial Management, which was the leading adviser for all of 1990, finished in the lead in the first half of 1991, as well, even though its largest issue so far this year was only $337 million. It advised issuers on 67 bond sales totaling $2.9 billion in the second quarter, nearly twice its $1.49 billion total for the first quarter.
Publi Resources Advisory, which jumped into first place in the first quarter after finishing second in 1990, lost ground in the second quarter and finished the first half in second place, with $3.22 billion. It was followed by P.G. Corbin & Co., with $2.77 billion; Lazard Freres & Co., with $1.94 billion; and Dillon, Read & Co., with $1.64 billion.
New York City Top Issuer
New York City was the leading issuer of long-term bonds in the first half, with five issues totaling $1.74 billion, followed by the New York Local Government Assistance Corp., with $1.47 billion; California, with its $1.26 billion sale; Denver, with $839 million; and the Washington Suburban Sanitary District in Maryland, with $739 million.
Lat year's leading bond issuer, the New York State Dormitory Authority, ranked only 21st in the first half, with $441 million.
The underwriter and issuer rankings were compiled on July 6 and 7. The bond counsel and financial adviser rankings were compiled on July 15.
