Primary quiet; Baffinland deal sees adjustments; Noble retreat continues; iHeart gains

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Dec. 21 – The first day of winter began on a sleepy note in the high-yield primary sphere, with no new dollar-denominated and fully junk-rated offerings seen having priced.

However, the primary may not be ready to call it quits just yet, according to syndicate sources, who reported that the lone deal remaining on the forward calendar – from Canadian metals company Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. – underwent some structural and covenant changes, in hopes of making that $350 million five-year secured offering more palatable to investors. But there was no firm guidance on when that deal might actually get done.

In the secondary realm, traders meantime reported very little activity in the two deals that had priced on Tuesday from commercial real estate company Avison Young (Canada) Inc. and in-flight internet connectivity provider Gogo Inc.

They also did not see much trading in other recently priced offerings, including last week’s energy-related deals from the likes of Tesoro Corp., Diamondback Energy, Inc. and Gulfport Energy Corp., all of which were about unchanged on light volume.

But last week’s offering from offshore energy drilling contractor Noble Holding International Ltd. continued to lose ground in fairly busy dealings.

Away from the new and recent deals, Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s bonds were somewhat active after that company announced an asset sale, and broadcaster iHeart Communications Inc.’s bonds were seen busy and at improved levels.

© 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.