KIK deal prices, clearing active forward calendar; new Hill-Rom, Oneok notes trade busily

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Aug. 19 – Junkbondland on Wednesday saw what some market-watchers believe may have been the final new-deal pricing ahead of the Labor Day break in the United States – a holiday hiatus that is still almost three weeks away.

High-yield syndicate sources said that KIK Custom Products Inc. priced $390 million of eight-year notes at a very steep discount to par after would-be investors apparently held out for a fatter yield than even the hefty 9% coupon itself would deliver and also sought covenant changes.

The transaction cleared the forward calendar of actively marketed deals.

In the secondary market, there was brisk trading for a second straight session in Hill-Rom Holdings Inc.’s new notes from Tuesday, which continued to trade in the same solidly firmer context they had reached during their initial post-pricing aftermarket activity.

The new Oneok Inc. notes, which had not come to market in time on Tuesday for much of an aftermarket, were also seen busily traded on Wednesday.

The overall market was seen lower, including energy names like California Resources Corp. and non-energy credits as well such as aircraft and railroad equipment manufacturer Bombardier, Inc.

Statistical measures of junk market performance were lower for a second consecutive session on Wednesday; they had turned lower across the board on Tuesday after having been mixed over the previous three sessions and down all around for two consecutive sessions before that.

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