Junk primary revives; Ford active, Embecta sinks on new offering; Carnival losses mount

By Paul A. Harris and Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., March 23 – The lights came up in the high-yield new issue market on Wednesday as three single-tranche issuers raised a total of $2.3 billion, the biggest day in the primary market in well over a month.

Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC priced a $1.5 billion issue of five-year senior bullet notes (expected ratings Ba2/BB+/BB+); Owens & Minor, Inc. priced an upsized $600 million issue of eight-year senior notes (B2/B/BB-); and Embecta Corp. priced a $200 million issue of 6¾% eight-year senior secured notes (Ba3/B+).

The new deal activity sparked activity in the secondary space on another weak day for the market, which was down 1/8 to 3/8 point.

While there were buyers in the space with offers-wanted-in-competition lists circulating, it did not result in much activity with sellers reluctant to step forward, a source said.

Activity focused on the new paper and the capital structures of the issuers, which were weaker in the wake of the new offerings.

Ford’s capital structure was active with several issues declining on the heels of the fresh paper.

Embecta’s 5% senior secured notes due 2030 (Ba3/B+) were among the major losers of the session with the notes dropping almost 4 points on the heels of Wednesday’s offering.

Carnival Corp.’s 6% senior notes due 2029 (B2/B) continued their downward trend as crude oil futures continued to gain.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.