Windstream prices upsized quickie; McJunkin, others ahead; existing Clear Channels up again

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Dec. 15 - Windstream Corp. surprised the high-yield bond market on Tuesday by announcing, shopping and pricing an opportunistically timed add-on offering to an existing bond issue within a matter of hours - while several deals thought to be possible candidates for pricing Tuesday were still waiting in the wings.

However, price talk surfaced on McJunkin Red Man Corp., Aquilex Holdings Inc. and Novasep Holdings SAS, potentially signaling an imminent pricing of one or more deals. Novasep could price its dollar- and euro-denominated offering as early as the opening of U.S. trading, while the books on McJunkin's $1 billion secured issue are scheduled to close in the early afternoon on Wednesday, with pricing seen after that.

Price talk also emerged on GXS Worldwide, Inc.'s $750 million senior secured notes deal, although that offering is not expected to price until Thursday. A Thursday pricing is also seen for diversified manufacturer TriMas Corp.'s eight-year secured notes deal, which was announced on Tuesday.

With the likely year-end winding down of market activity coming a day closer, Junkbondland's forward calendar remains stuffed like a holiday turkey, with some $4.15 billion and €370 million of deals being marketed.

In the secondary market, Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s existing bonds continued to move up solidly for a third consecutive session, fueled by the upcoming $750 million bond deal from the Texas media company's Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings Inc. unit - another much-anticipated pricing which remains on tap.

Away from new-deal related movements, General Motors Corp.'s bonds drove higher in apparent response to the automotive giant's bold assertion Tuesday that it expected to have fully paid back all of its government loans by this coming June.

Windstream upsizes

Tuesday's primary market session saw one deal clear the market.

Windstream priced an upsized $700 million add-on to its 7 7/8% senior notes due Nov. 1, 2017 (Ba3/BB-) at 98.50.

The reoffer price came on top of the price talk and the offering was increased from $600 million.

The add-on notes will yield 8.132%.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Securities were joint bookruners for the quick-to-market transaction.

The bookrunner had the notes at 99 bid, 99½ offered just as the final terms circulated, according to an asset manager.

Given that bounce, the deal would make a decent flip, the asset manager remarked - speaking hypothetically, of course.

This buy-side source also continues to see cash flowing into the high-yield asset class.

McJunkin talks $1 billion

Meanwhile the dealers set the stage for a reasonably busy Wednesday.

McJunkin Red Man talked its $1 billion offering of seven-year senior secured notes (/B/) to yield in the 10% area on Tuesday.

The notes are expected to price with 2 to 3 points of original issue discount.

The books close at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, and the notes are expected to price after that.

Goldman Sachs & Co. is the left bookrunner for the bank debt refinancing. Barclays Capital Inc. is the joint bookrunner.

Aquilex sets talk

Elsewhere, Aquilex Holdings talked its $225 million offering of seven-year senior notes (B3/B) to yield between 12% and 12¼%.

Pricing is set for Wednesday.

Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley & Co. and RBC Capital Markets Corp. are leading the debt refinancing deal.

Novasep talks two-parter

Also Novasep Holdings set price talk for its €370 million equivalent offering of seven-year senior secured notes (expected B3/B) on Tuesday.

A €270 million tranche is talked to yield 9¾% to 10%. Meanwhile a $150 million tranche is talked to yield 10% to 10¼%.

The deal is set to price Wednesday at the New York open.

JPMorgan and BNP Paribas are joint bookruners for the debt refinancing deal.

GXS talks 5.5-year deal

Looking beyond Wednesday, GXS Worldwide set price talk for its $750 million offering of 5.5-year senior secured notes (B2/B) at the 10¼% area.

The deal is expected to price early Thursday.

Barclays Capital Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities are joint bookrunners.

Proceeds will be used to repay bank debt, as well as for general corporate purposes. Proceeds will also be used to fund the cash portion of the merger with Inovis and to refinance Inovis debt.

Meanwhile, although there was no official price talk heard on the Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings Inc. $750 million offering of senior notes due 2017, the deal is being whispered in a context of 8¾%, according to a high-yield mutual fund manager.

It will be comprised of $600 million of series A notes and $150 million of series B notes.

Goldman Sachs & Co., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. are joint bookrunners.

Proceeds will be loaned to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., which will use the funds to repay debt owed to Clear Channel Communications.

Brief roadshow for TriMas

Finally, TriMas set out on a brief roadshow on Tuesday.

The Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based manufacturer of engineered and applied products expects to price a $250 million offering of eight-year second-lien senior secured notes on Thursday.

Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Jefferies & Co. are joint bookrunners for the deal.

Proceeds will be used to fund a tender for TriMas's 9 7/8% senior subordinated notes.

New Windstream edges higher

When Windstream's new 7 7/8% notes due 2017 were freed for secondary dealings, a trader saw the Little Rock, Ark.-based telecommunications company's add-on issue as having initially pushed up to 99 bid from the 98.5 level at which the upsized $700 million deal had priced earlier in the session to yield 8.132%

However, after that initial firming, he said investors "hit that 99 bid," leaving the bonds left at 98¾ bid, 99 offered.

Viskase ventures upward

Viskase Cos. Inc.'s new $175 million of 9 7/8% senior secured eight-year notes were seen by a trader to have moved up to 100 5/8 at midday, and were left at par bid, 100 5/8 offered at day's end. Another trader saw the bonds at 100¼ bid, 101¼ offered.

On Tuesday, the Chicago-based maker of sausage and hotdog casings priced its offering of bonds - upsized from the originally proposed $160 million - at 99.305 to yield 10%.

Expro mega-deal holds gains

One of the traders saw Expro Finance Luxembourg SCA's new issue of 8½% senior secured notes due 2016 trading at 98 3/8 bid, 98¾ offered, although he said they later "quieted down a little."

That was about where the Reading, U.K.-based oilfield services concern's had traded in initial aftermarket dealings on Monday, after it had priced its $1.4 billion deal - upsized from the $1.35 billion originally announced - at 96.207 to yield 9¼%

Clear Channel climbs, again

A trader said that "one of the biggest winners" on the day was Clear Channel's bonds, adding that "they saw a lot of activity, and went up."

The San Antonio, Tex.-based broadcasting and outdoor advertising company's bonds gained several points across the board for a third straight session, riding the momentum generated from Friday's announcement of the company's upcoming $750 million offering of senior notes due 2017.

He said that its 10¾% notes due 2016 "went on a wild ride, starting the day at 78 bid, 79 offered, then getting as good as 83 bid around midday, only to end back at 78½ bid, 79 offered. "They had a lot of volume," he said, "and ended unchanged," at least from their opening, although the bonds were up solidly from the 76 bid, 77 offered at which they had ended on Monday.

He saw Clear Channel's 11% notes due 2016 gaining more than 3 points on the day to 71½ bid, "also on very heavy volume."

A market source at another shop called the bonds up more than 3 points at 71 bid, on heavy dealings of more than $21 million as of mid-afternoon, while the 10¾% notes due 2016 were up 2½ points at 78.

Its 4.90% notes due 2015 shot up by some 3½ points on the day to the mid-57 level.

Clear Channel, yet another market participant opined, "was the big trader," rising "on the new-issue news and what it enables the rest of the entity [outside of the outdoor advertising unit] to set up their capital structure."

He said that Clear Channel's had firmed to 71½ bid Tuesday - up from 66 at the beginning of Monday's session, and well up from the 62½ bid, 64 offered level seen on Friday.

Market indicators strong and steady

Among statistical measures of market performance not related to the new-deal market, a trader saw the CDX Series 13 index down ¼ point on Tuesday at 97 bid, 97½ offered, after having been up ¾ point on Monday.

The KDP High Yield Daily Index meanwhile rose by 8 basis points on Tuesday, to 70.73, after having jumped 16 bps on Monday. Its yield tightened by 5 bps to 8.22%, after having narrowed by 6 bps the previous session.

In the broader market, advancing issues again led decliners on Tuesday, for an 11th straight session, by a margin of not quite four to three.

Overall market activity, as measured by dollar-volume, rose 24% from Monday's pace.

Hybrid issues trade heavily

A trader noted that hybrid issues put out by major banks "traded in the biggest size," attracting interest from both junk players and some investment-grade investors as well.

For instance, he saw Wells Fargo Corp.'s 5.80% bonds due 2049 trade down to 76½ bid from 77¼ at the opening. That opening level, in turn was off from the "78ish" level which the trader said the bonds had occupied on Friday. The bonds had firmed up to that level from Saturday's 76-77 close.

GM cruises higher

A trader saw General Motors's benchmark 8 3/8% bonds due 2033 up more than ¾ point on the day to 25 bid, 26 offered, citing the news that GM said it will have fully repaid its government loans by this coming June, assuming no adverse economic or business conditions.

He also cited a report put out by a researcher connected with car-rental giant Avis Budget Group predicting that automobile sales will go up in response to pent-up demand.

Another trader quoted GM at 25 bid, 25½ offered, which he called up a point on "lots of volume."

However, a third trader, who saw the GM bonds in a 25-25¼ context, called the bonds "up a little," from prior levels around 24-24½ on Friday and Monday, "though not screaming."

CIT steps back

A trader said that CIT Group Inc.'s new paper - recently busy and strengthening in the wake of the New York-based commercial lender's exit from bankruptcy last Thursday - "wasn't much different today than [Monday], the whole strip of them."

He called the bonds unchanged, with the five series of 7% notes due from 2013 to 2017 ranging from about 88 bid for the longest bond to 94 for the shortest, while its five series of 10¼% notes due from 2013 to 2017 ranged from 103½ to 102.

He said "we're starting to see retail trading in smaller pieces," which he said were trading lower, "but the round-lot trades were unchanged."

Dubai issue down a little

A trader saw Dubai development company Nakheel PJSC's bonds "settling down" after having soared on Monday on news that oil-rich Abu Dhabi would front its troubled neighboring emirate $10 billion to pay off the $3.5 billion of 3.172% sukuk bonds that were maturing on Monday and have enough cash to run Nakheel parent Dubai World's operations for the coming months.

Its 2¾% notes due 2011 and floating-rate paper due 2010 had about doubled on Monday, rising into the mid-60s from prior levels in the 30s on the news, but on Tuesday the trader quoted them early on at 61-63, and said that by later in the day they had come in to 59 bid, 60 offered.

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