BlackRock taps primary market; Gaming & Leisure tightens; Occidental Petroleum mixed

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Aug. 16 – BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. priced $150 million of five-year senior notes as the sole reported issuer in the high-grade primary market on Friday.

The notes priced more than 10 basis points tighter than initial talk.

Investment-grade companies sold more than $23 billion of bonds this week, compared to about $25 billion to $30 billion of volume expected by market sources.

Issuance is expected to slow in the back half of August ahead of the Labor Day holiday with desks already beginning to thin for late summer vacations, sources report.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 32 index firmed 3 bps to close Friday at a spread of 59 bps.

In the secondary market, new issues priced this week were mixed, a source said.

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc.’s $1.1 billion of senior notes (Ba1/BBB-/BBB-) that priced on Thursday tightened across both tranches.

The company’s $400 million of 3.35% notes due Sept. 1, 2024 firmed to 185 bps bid on Friday, and the 4% senior notes due Jan. 15, 2030 improved to 242 bps bid.

Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s senior notes (Baa3/A) that priced as part of a $13 billion 10-part offering in the previous week remain active but were mixed in secondary trading on Friday.

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