Dollar primary quiet; market awaits Vizient; new Kinetic Concepts bond busy; energy up

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Feb. 3 – The high-yield primary market was relatively quiet on Wednesday, with no new dollar-denominated, fully junk-rated issues heard to have priced during the session.

The day’s sole pricing activity came out of Europe. France-based Labeyrie Fine Foods SAS was heard by syndicate sources to have priced an €80 million add-on to its existing 2021 secured notes.

Back among the dollar-denominated names, Tuesday’s new deal from Kinetic Concepts Inc. was meanwhile the most actively traded issue in Junkbondland Wednesday, moving up by nearly another point on top of the initial aftermarket gains the new issue posted after pricing.

The syndicate sources meantime said that Vizient, Inc. is expected to bring its upsized $500 million eight-year issue to market, possibly as soon as Thursday.

Away from the new-deal arena, a sharp rise in crude oil prices spurred by a lower dollar and the possibility of an international oil producers’ meeting to discuss possible output cutbacks helped push oil and natural gas names like SandRidge Energy, Inc., Whiting Petroleum Corp., Oasis Petroleum Inc. and Energy XXI Ltd. multiple points higher.

Freeport McMoRan Inc. paper continued to gain for a fourth straight session following the company’s ratings downgrade as junk investors stepped in to buy the split-rated bonds that high-grade accounts were getting out of.

Statistical measures of junk market performance turned mixed on Wednesday after having been lower across the board on Monday and Tuesday.

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