Quiet primary wraps $4.8 billion week; more heavy trading in Rite Aid; Transocean tumbles again

By Paul A. Harris and Paul Deckelman

New York, March 20 – The high-yield primary sphere was quiet on Friday, with syndicate sources reporting no pricings of any U.S. dollar-denominated, fully junk-rated issues from domestic or industrialized-country borrowers.

The day’s only pricing action in Junkbondland involved a euro-denominated transaction from French recycling company Paprec Holding SA, which did a €480 million two-part deal consisting of seven- and eight-year notes.

Back in the dollar market, the absence of any new-deal action on Friday left the week’s tally of such paper where it had finished on Thursday, with $4.78 billion of new bonds having priced in six tranches, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

In the secondary market, Thursday’s new deal from drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. easily dominated the Most Actives list for a second straight session on Friday, holding onto the hefty gains it had run up in initial aftermarket dealings after pricing.

And for a second straight session, away from activity in new or recently-priced deals, Transocean Inc.’s bonds were being battered by waves of sellers, after the Swiss offshore energy drilling company’s debt was downgraded to junk bond status by Standard & Poor’s.

Statistical indicators of junk market performance were higher across the board on Friday after having been mixed on Wednesday and Thursday. It was the first stronger session since the previous Thursday.

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