Diamond Sports, Washington Prime notes dip; PBF recovers; Transocean gains; Talen lower

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., June 25 – Diamond Sports Group LLC’s notes remained mostly softer in distressed secondary activity on Friday.

The company’s 6 5/8% senior notes due 2027 (Caa2/CCC-) traded late afternoon down ¾ point at 48½ bid, a source said.

The issue declined about 2 points on Tuesday, 3½ points on Wednesday and 2¼ points on Thursday.

The notes traded at the 60½ bid area in early 2021.

Diamond Sports’ bonds softened after parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. disclosed on Monday attempts to secure new funding for the Chesapeake, Va.-based sports broadcast group.

Sinclair said in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has been unable to reach a definitive agreement with certain lenders and noteholders on funding new debt and exchanging and/or repurchasing its existing debt.

Sinclair made two proposals to lenders and noteholders of Diamond Sports, including a March 22 proposal for $600 million of new money first priority super priority debt and up to $6.34 billion of second priority super priority debt.

In an April 29 proposal, Sinclair proposed issuing $500 million of new money financing and a roll-up of notes into $100 million of first-lien bonds at prices between par and a 35% discount and yields from 9½% to 6.615% across three tranches.

Washington Prime lower

In other distressed secondary action, Washington Prime Group, LP’s 6.45% notes due 2024 (C/D/CC) fell about ¼ point to the 66½ bid area in light secondary supply, a source said.

The notes have softened from the 74 bid area in the same session a week ago.

Washington Prime Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on June 13.

Washington Prime Group’s official committee of unsecured creditors was appointed Friday.

The company filed a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and related disclosure statement on Wednesday.

A hearing on approval of the disclosure statement is scheduled for July 12.

The bankruptcy filing follows after the Columbus, Ohio-based shopping center real estate investment trust had been in a forbearance agreement since March 16 over a missed $23.2 million interest payment on the 6.45% notes that was due Feb. 15.

Under Chapter 11, the company plans to restructure its corporate-level debt, either through a full equitization of its unsecured notes or an alternative value-maximizing transaction that would repay in full in cash all of its corporate debt.

Washington Prime has secured a $100 million non-amortizing multiple draw super-priority senior secured debtor-in-possession term loan facility from the consenting creditors to support daily operations.

PBF, Transocean better

In the distressed energy space, PBF Holding Co. LLC’s 6% senior notes due 2028 (B3/B+/B+) recovered 1 point to head out at 71 bid in heavy secondary activity during the session, a source said.

The notes had declined more than 1 point in the prior session.

The issue from the Calgary, Alta.-based subsidiary of Parsippany, N.J.-based petroleum refiner PBF Energy Inc. traded at the 56¾ bid area at the start of the year.

Meanwhile, offshore driller Transocean Inc.’s 7¼% senior notes due 2025 (Ca) improved ¼ point to 86 bid in strong volume on Friday, a source said.

The notes are unchanged on the week but remain well up from 51 bid as the year opened.

Oil prices were higher on the day.

North Sea Brent crude oil futures for August deliveries settled up 62 cents to $76.18 a barrel.

West Texas intermediate crude oil benchmark futures for August deliveries added 75 cents to settle at $74.05 a barrel.

Overall market tone was mostly stronger on the day.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF rose 9 cents to finish at $87.93.

Talen stronger on week

In other energy issues, Talen Energy Supply LLC’s bonds declined in secondary trading on Friday but remained stronger week to date, a source said.

Talen’s 10½% notes due 2026 (B3/CCC+/B) were quoted down about ½ point at 80 bid.

The issue went out about 3½ points better on the week.

The bonds have softened from 91 bid at the end of May and the 89 bid area at the start of the year.

Moody’s Investors Service dropped The Woodlands, Tex., and Allentown, Pa.-based power company’s outlook to negative from stable on June 16.

Ligado higher

Elsewhere, Ligado Networks’ 15½% senior secured first-lien notes due 2023 (Caa1) improved ¼ point to 99¼ bid in a busy trading session, a source said.

The issue was mostly unchanged on the week but slightly better than where the notes traded at 98 bid at the year’s start.

On Tuesday, Moody’s changed the company’s outlook to negative from stable on concerns of sufficient liquidity to meet cash requirements for a period of at least 18 months.

The Reston, Va.-based satellite communications company announced on Monday that it received approvals from the Third Generation Partnership Project to enable its L-band spectrum to be deployed in 5G networks.

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