NII, Univision lead $3.9 billion day; Clear Channel gains more ground; NII not much moved

By Paul A. Harris and Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, May 16 - The high-yield primary market continued to pour on the coal Thursday as 10 issuers wielding single tranches priced $3.9 billion face amount of junk bonds.

Among the issuers were NII International Telecom SCA, Univision Communications Inc., Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. and Supervalu Inc.

Half the deals were done as drive-bys, and another was hurried up.

Six were upsized.

However, executions were more of a mixed bag than the market has seen in recent weeks. While six of the 10 came at the tight end of talk, three came at the wide end and one in the middle.

And one of the deals was downsized dramatically.

In the secondary market, new issues were again taking over on Thursday.

"It's all new issues," one trader said of the day's activity.

"New issues galore," said another trader.

Even deals that were priced earlier in the week, such as First Data Corp.'s $750 million of 11¾% notes due 2021 and Seagate HDD Cayman's $1 billion of 4¾% notes due 2023, were busy, though most ended about unchanged.

Away from recent deals, Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s leveraged buyout bonds remained active. A trader said that the word on the street was that the company's recent amend-and-extend effort on $1.5 billion of term loans could end up being larger than expected.

Meanwhile, there wasn't much action in J.C. Penney Co., Inc.'s debt ahead of its after-market earnings release. A trader said the bonds were holding steady before the results came out.

The retailer ended up reporting a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter.

NII upsizes

NII International Telecom priced an upsized $700 million issue of senior notes due Aug. 15, 2019 (B2/B-) at par to yield 7 7/8% on Thursday, according to a market source.

The deal was upsized from $500 million.

The yield printed at the tight end of yield talk set in the 8% area.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. were the joint bookrunners.

The Reston, Va.-based wireless communications services provider plans to use the proceeds to repay local-level debt in Brazil and Mexico.

Univision drives by

Univision Communications priced an upsized $700 million issue of 10-year senior secured notes (B2/B+) at par to yield 5 1/8% on Thursday, according to a market source.

The deal was upsized from $500 million.

The yield printed in the middle of the 5% to 5¼% yield talk.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Wells Fargo Securities LLC, Natixis Securities and Mizuho were the joint bookrunners.

The Los Angeles-based Spanish-language media company plans to use the proceeds to repay bank debt.

Freescale downsizes

Freescale Semiconductor priced a downsized $500 million issue of eight-year senior secured notes (B1/B) at par to yield 5% on Thursday, according to a syndicate source.

The deal was downsized from $750 million.

The yield printed at the wide end of the 4 7/8% to 5% yield talk.

Credit Suisse, Barclays, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were the joint bookrunners.

The Austin, Texas-based semiconductor manufacturer plans to use the proceeds to refinance its 10 1/8% senior secured notes.

Supervalu at the wide end

Supervalu priced a $400 million issue of eight-year senior notes (Caa1/B-) at par to yield 6¾% on Thursday, according to a market source.

The yield printed at the wide end of the 6½% to 6¾% yield talk.

Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were the joint bookrunners.

The Rule 144A and Regulation S notes come with four years of call protection.

The Minneapolis-based grocery wholesaler and retailer plans to use the proceeds to fund the tender offer for its 8% senior notes due 2016.

Bon-Ton upsized

Bon-Ton Department Stores, Inc. priced an upsized $350 million issue of eight-year second-lien senior secured notes (Caa1/B-) at par to yield 8% on Thursday, according to a syndicate source.

The yield printed at the tight end of the 8% to 8¼% yield talk.

The deal was upsized from $300 million.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs were the joint bookrunners.

The York, Pa.-based regional department store operator plans to use the proceeds to fund the tender offer for its 10¼% notes due 2014 and its 10 5/8% notes due 2017.

Builders at the tight end

Builders FirstSource, Inc. priced a $350 million issue of eight-year senior secured notes (Caa2/B-) at par to yield 7 5/8% on Thursday, according to a syndicate source.

The yield printed at the tight end of yield talk set in the 7¾% area.

Credit Suisse, Citigroup and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. were the joint bookrunners.

The notes become callable in three years at par plus 75% of the coupon. A special call provision allows the issuer to redeem 10% of the notes annually at 103 during the non-call period.

The Dallas-based manufacturer and supplier of building products plans to use the proceeds to refinance debt.

Jefferies LoanCore upsizes

Jefferies LoanCore LLC priced an upsized $300 million issue of seven-year senior notes (B2/B) at par to yield 6 7/8% on Thursday, according to a syndicate source.

The deal was upsized from $250 million.

The yield printed at the tight end of yield talk in the 7% area.

Jefferies & Co. was the bookrunner for the deal.

Proceeds will be used to originate new commercial real estate loans and for general corporate purposes.

The commercial real estate finance company focuses on originating and securitizing commercial mortgage loans and is based in Greenwich, Conn.

Sugarhouse at the tight end

Sugarhouse HSP Gaming Prop. Mezz. LP and Sugarhouse HSP Gaming Finance Corp., units of Sugarhouse Casino, priced a $235 million issue of eight-year second-lien notes (B3/CCC) at par to yield 6 3/8% on Thursday, according to a market source.

The yield printed at the tight end of yield talk in the 6½% area.

Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, BofA Merrill Lynch and Fifth Third Securities Inc. were the joint bookrunners for the deal, which was upsized from $235 million.

The Philadelphia-based casino entertainment enterprise plans to use the proceeds to refinance its 8 5/8% senior secured notes due 2016, to fund capital expenditures and to redeem preferred shares.

StoneMor at a discount

StoneMor Partners LP priced a $175 million issue of 7 7/8% eight-year senior notes (B3/B-) at 97.832 to yield 8¼% on Thursday, according to an informed source.

The yield printed at the wide end of the 8% to 8¼% yield talk.

BofA Merrill Lynch was the bookrunner.

The Levittown, Pa.-based cemetery and funeral services provider plans to use the proceeds to fund the tender offer for its 10¼% senior notes due 2017.

Neenah eight-year deal

Neenah Paper, Inc. priced a $175 million issue of eight-year senior notes (Ba3/BB-) at par to yield 5¼% on Thursday, according to a market source.

The yield printed at the tight end of the 5¼% to 5½% yield talk.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse were the joint bookrunners. BMO Capital Markets was the co-manager.

The Alpharetta, Ga.-based producer of paper and technical products plans to use the proceeds to redeem its 7 3/8% senior notes due 2014, to repay its revolver and for general corporate purposes.

Millicom for Friday

Looking to Friday's session, Millicom International Cellular SA talked its $500 million seven-year senior notes (expected ratings Ba2/BB+) to yield 5 3/8% on Thursday, according to a market source.

The deal is set to price on Friday.

Joint global coordinator JPMorgan will bill and deliver. Standard Bank is also a global coordinator. BNP Paribas is a joint bookrunner.

The Rule 144A and Regulation S notes come with four years of call protection.

The Luxembourg-based telecommunications company plans to use the proceeds to refinance existing debt of African subsidiaries in Chad, DRC, Ghana, Senegal and Tanzania.

Market holding in

The high-yield bond market was unchanged to slightly better, according to various market indexes.

The KDP High Yield index held steady at 76.43, with a 5.02% yield. But the North American CDX High Yield index rose 3/32 to 106 25/32 bid, 106 29/32 offered, a market source reported.

The market trend was also seen in recent deals.

A trader said First Data's newly priced 11¾% notes hit a high of 101½ but came back to close around par. Seagate's 4¾% notes meantime finished around 993/4. Both issues priced at par on Wednesday.

As for DISH DBS Corp.'s two-tranche deal, a trader said the bonds "didn't really change." He pegged the $1.25 billion of 5% notes due 2017 at par ¾ bid, par ½ offered and the $1.35 billion of 6¼% notes due 2023 at par bid, par 1/8 offered.

NII unfazed by new issue

NII's new $750 million bond issue didn't do much to affect the Reston, Va.-based company's existing debt, according to a trader.

"It was trading some," he said, seeing the existing 7 5/8% notes due 2021 "around 90, so not that changed."

The trader also saw the 11 3/8% notes due 2019 at 1141/2, which was down from 115 previously.

The provider of Nextel mobile service in Latin America priced the new issue at par to yield 7 7/8%. Price talk was initially around 8%, and the size was expected to be around $500 million. The notes mature in 2019.

Proceeds from the offering are being used to repay local-level debt in Brazil and Mexico.

Clear Channel gains steam

Clear Channel Communications' LBO debt continued to gain momentum Thursday due to rumors surrounding the company's recent amend-and-extend effort.

A trader called the 11% PIK notes due 2016 and 10¾% notes due 2016 up 4 to 5 points at 97 and 961/2, respectively.

"There's talk that the amend and extend will be much bigger than expected," the trader said. Chatter is that it will be for $4 billion instead of $1.5 billion.

Another market source pegged the 11% notes at 97 and the 9% notes due 2021 at 101.

On May 9, the San Antonio-based multimedia company said it was seeking approval to amend and extend the maturity of $1.5 billion of its outstanding term loans B and C. The company wants to push out the maturity to 2018.

J.C. Penney quiet pre-earnings

A trader said there was "not a lot of trading" leading up to J.C. Penney's post-market close earnings release.

He deemed the 7.65% notes due 2016 "about unchanged" at 101½ bid, 101¾ offered.

The quarterly results showed a wider-than-expected loss, with the company posting a net loss of $348 million, or $1.58 per share.

Various analyst polls had placed the loss somewhere between 43 cents per share and $1.06 per share.

Revenue fell 16.4% to $2.64 billion, and same-store sales dropped 16.6%.

The first-quarter results came just about a month after the struggling Plano, Texas-based retailer replaced Ron Johnson as chief executive with his predecessor, Mike Ullman. Johnson was ousted as his turnaround effort failed to do much but burn through cash.

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