By Shankar Ramakrishnan

Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. integrated midstream

infrastructure company Plains All American Pipeline ( PAA ) is

set on Monday to price a $1 billion investment-grade bond

offering, the year's first to finance an acquisition.

Proceeds will be used to fund an $800 million purchase

of Ironwood Midstream Energy Partners and hybrid shares from

EnCap Flatrock Midstream, Plains All American said

earlier this month

.

The offering set the stage for what is expected to be a busy

year of bond financing for acquisitions.

Syndicate bankers on average are expecting around $1.65

trillion of new investment-grade bonds in 2025, topping the $1.5

trillion in 2024, making this the second most prolific year for

such offerings, according to Informa Global Markets.

Daniel Krieter, credit strategist at BMO Capital, said M&A

funding could account for about 14.5% to 15.5% of total

investment-grade bond volumes this year, up from about 13.5% in

2024.