Six Flags two-parter, upsized Charter add-on pace $4 billion session; funds fall $249 million

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, March 30 – The high-yield primary machine kicked into high gear on Thursday, pricing $3.88 billion face amount of new dollar-denominated and fully junk-rated paper in eight tranches, syndicate sources said, all of it from domestic issuers and most of it in the form of opportunistically timed and quickly shopped drive-by offerings.

Cable and broadband provider Charter Communications Inc. had the day’s biggest deal, an upsized $1.2 billion add-on to its existing 5 1/8% notes due 2027, via a pair of funding subsidiaries.

Theme-park operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp. did a $1.2 billion two-part transaction, consisting of seven- and 10-year notes.

Yogurt producer Chobani LLC whipped up a $530 million eight-year offering, while Exterran Energy Solutions, LP, which provides equipment and services to the oil and natural gas industry, priced an upsized $375 million of eight-year notes. They were the day’s only two deals to come off the forward calendar.

Secondary market traders saw both the new Exterran and Chobani deals quoted at solidly firmer levels when they hit the aftermarket.

Overall, the market was seen continuing to grind higher during the session, extending Wednesday’s upside momentum.

But high-yield mutual funds and exchange-traded funds turned negative in the latest reporting week, according to numbers released on Thursday, with $249 million more leaving the weekly reporting domestic funds than came into them.

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