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While investors wait for this sentiment to start fueling more M&A, refinancing deals for Staples, Peloton and Gray Television this week highlighted the willingness to support highly levered balance sheets — if the price is right. They also point to the willingness of corporates and sponsors to be proactive, mindful that spreads may widen if and when interest rates fall.
“At these absolute coupon levels, I think the C-suite mindset has kind of adopted the fact that this is a new normal,” said a leveraged finance banker. “You've seen a lot more comfort in people's willingness to dip their toes in the water, and we continue to feel that market access is there for the right credits and the right structure at the right price point.”
Sycamore-backed stationary supplier Staples raised $3.975bn to refinance existing debt this week, but in lower size and at a steeper cost than originally expected. JP Morgan pushed the yield on a $2.35bn SSN due 2029 to 11%, including a 99.061 OID, after initially floating pricing in the 10% area in early discussions.
The loan book was slower to build, with lead arranger Morgan Stanley downsizing the TLB due 2029 by $200m to $1.6bn. Pricing also widened to SOFR+575bps and a 96 OID, out from initial talk at S+500bps-525bps and a 98.0-98.5 OID.
See the rest of our coverage on the transaction here, including our Credit QuickTake and Loan and Bond Legal QuickTakes.
Overall, May volumes are putting the primary market on track for its busiest month of the year-to-date, according to 9fin data:
In another closely watched deal, Gray Television was able to price an upsized $1.25bn SSN due 2029 at par to yield 10.25%. It’s also looking to close a $500m TLB due 2029, on which pricing has been widened to SOFR+525bps at 96, from SOFR+475bps and 97.
Though the coupon on the bond also widened and it ultimately came around 150bps wider than where Gray had hoped to print in February, onlookers said the financing was an encouraging sign for the broader sector.
Spanish broadcaster Univision capitalized on the opening by printing $1bn across a $500m 8.5% SSNs due 2031and $500m TLB due 2029 that priced at 350bps over SOFR with a 99 OID.
Similarly, Scripps is waiting in the wings with new notes that are expected to yield even more than Gray. Still, while investors highlighted some encouraging trends at Gray, the sector remains a tricky one to navigate with some heavily levered capital structures.
“Certain sectors go in and out of trend, and broadcasting is now like consumer retail was five years ago or energy in 2016,” said a second banker. “It's probably going to become one of those sectors that are going to be a little bit more challenging to raise capital, or will involve higher premiums, and maybe you see a transition from your traditional mutual fund buyer to more opportunistic credit hedge fund buyers.”
Spin cycle
Peloton meanwhile was able to tighten the pricing on a $1bn TLB due 2029 that’s earmarked for repaying existing debt.
The refinancing, which also included a $300m 5.5% convertible note and a $100m revolver (both due 2029) gives the fitness equipment companysome breathing room on its debt maturities. Some lenders remained skeptical of the company’s long-term trajectory, but the deal was structured with bond-like call features and a generous spread that helped overcome concerns.
Alta Equipment also offered a generous yield on a $500m second lien bond that will refinance existing debt. The 9% coupon notes priced at 97.094 to yield 9.75%, at the tight end of price talk. As we highlighted in our Credit QuickTake, the construction materials company has been struggling with margin pressure, but performance has been strong since 2020 thanks to favorable pricing, a boost from infrastructure spending, and acquisitions.
Back once again
The pace of repricings remains frantic as the scarcity of primary supply drives up secondary prices. Average loan prices are at a multi-year high, according to JP Morgan, with 63% of the market now trading above par, creating a ton of potential repricing and refi scenarios.
A loan repricing from McAfee highlighted an interesting cross-border opportunity. The software company kicked off a repricing effort in the dollar market before adding a euro repricing. Ultimately it repriced $5.26bn and €1.4bn of TLBs due 2029, with the euro repricing upsized from €1bn-€1.2bn (see full pricing terms here).
The first banker said that rallying euro loan prices has given US companies more funding options to consider.
“Europe is catching up to the US in terms of all the themes and trends that we've seen on the loan side this year,” the banker said. “And then on the bond side, depending on the deal, you're seeing euro deals price anywhere from 100 to 125 basis points tighter coupon, just given where base rates and swaps are right now.”
ION Markets returned to the loan market on Thursday looking to reprice its $1.832bn TLB due 2028, led by joint arrangers UBS and Goldman Sachs.
Back in February, ION Markets withdrew an attempt to reprice its existing $1.693bn TLB due 2028 from SOFR+475bps to 425bps. It did however price a $140m add-on to the loan at 99.03. Now, the company is looking to reprice the entire $1.832bn TLB to SOFR+400bps-425bps at 99.75. Commitments are due 31 May.
Divvy re-caps
Another big theme coming out of the primary is the increase in dividend recaps — which bankers say is only set to increase over the next few months.
Distribution to paid-in capital (DPI) is a key selling point for private equity sponsors that are in fundraising mode: in the absence of blockbuster IPOs and sponsor-to-sponsor sales, debt-funded dividends are one way to boost that metric.
They’re also a way for bankers to manufacture supply. And lenders have been mostly receptive to dividend deals from companies that have demonstrated growth — after all, there are few other opportunities to deploy cash.
That worked in Intrado’s favor this week, as the company — which manages infrastructure and software for emergency services — tightened the pricing on a $125m TLB add-on to fund a dividend to its sponsor Stonepeak.
The tighter execution came despite vocal opposition from an existing lender on a call this week, who questioned the dividend in light of the company’s moderate performance and rising leverage, according to 9fin sources.
