Junk marks busiest week of year; calendar eyed; Bausch + Lomb, Freedom Mortgage outperform

By Paul A. Harris and Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Sept. 15 – The primary market remained quiet on Friday as 2023’s biggest issuance week to date came to its conclusion.

The new issue bourse generated a $9.5 billion face amount of freshly minted speculative-grade bonds during the Sept. 11 week, eclipsing the $8.5 billion that priced during the week of Feb. 6.

In fact, the Sept. 11 week was the biggest in nearly two years, according to Prospect News data.

The active pace of new issuance is expected to continue in the week ahead.

Meanwhile, a firm open in the secondary space gave way to a soft close with the cash bond market up 1/8 point early in the session but down 1/8 point by the session’s end.

While the deals to price in the torrent of new issuance have all remained above water, few have risen above a par-handle.

However, Bausch + Lomb Corp.’s 8 3/8% senior secured notes due 2028 (B1/B-/BB) maintained the 101-handle gained on the break in heavy volume on Friday.

And, Freedom Mortgage Corp.’s two tranches of senior notes (B2/B/B+) outperformed with the notes trading 2 points above their discounted issue price.

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