Transocean, CBS Radio, Virgin Australia price to close $3.5 billion primary week, new deals rise

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Oct. 7 – The high-yield primary market was busy for a second consecutive session on Friday, as three issuers each priced a single-tranche transaction, generating $1.34 billion of new U.S.-dollar-denominated and fully junk-rated paper.

Marine energy driller Transocean Ltd. had the big deal of the day, a quickly shopped and privately marketed $600 million issue of eight-year secured notes.

Traders said that the notes, which priced at a discount to par, firmed smartly when they were freed for secondary dealings.

Broadcaster CBS Radio Inc. brought a downsized $400 million offering of eight-year notes to market as a regularly scheduled forward calendar deal; those bonds also moved up when they hit the aftermarket.

The day’s other transaction, from airline operator Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., also came off the calendar – a $350 million five-year issue, which was seen hovering around its pricing level in the secondary on limited volume.

Traders also saw continued relatively firm trading levels, well above their respective issue prices, for some of the other recently priced offerings, including Thursday’s deals from Gulfport Energy Corp. and Concordia International Corp., although the latter deal was off from the lofty aftermarket levels it had initially hit after pricing.

Statistical market performance measures turned mixed on Friday after having been higher across the board on Wednesday and again on Thursday, their third mixed session in the last five trading days.

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