Junk primary calms down as Virgin Australia, HC2 price; recent deals active; market easier

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Nov. 13 – The high-yield primary market calmed down considerably on Thursday following Wednesday’s multi-billion-dollar session.

Virgin Australia Holdings Inc. priced $300 million of five-year notes, which were quoted a little higher when they reached the aftermarket.

And HC2 Holdings, Inc. did a $250 million issue of five-year secured notes that were seen having moved up after pricing at a discount to par.

The day’s $550 million of new dollar-denominated, fully junk-rated paper in two tranches was a marked comedown from Wednesday, when some $2.7 billion of new high-yield notes came to market, all as quickly shopped drive-by transactions.

Several of Wednesday’s offerings were seen by traders on Thursday as the most active Junkbondland credits, including SM Energy Co., Ally Financial Inc. and Solera Holdings, Inc.

There was also brisk trading in other recently priced offerings, including SuperValu, Inc., DISH DBS Corp. and Sealed Air Corp.

Statistical indicators of junk market performance were meantime lower for a second consecutive session on Thursday.

But another statistical measure – high-yield mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, considered a reliable barometer of overall junk market liquidity trends – saw a fourth consecutive week of sizable inflows of investor cash. Some $890 million more came into those funds than left them during the week ended Wednesday, pushing the year-to-date net inflow total to just over $1 billion.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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