Ascend Performance softens; Live Nation strengthens; Helix Gen, Cyanco ready loan deals

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, June 14 – In the secondary market on Wednesday, Ascend Performance Materials’ term loan B was a little lower as the company’s ratings were downgraded by S&P Global Ratings, and Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s term loan was better with a ratings upgrade and a stronger market in general.

Meanwhile, in the primary market, Helix Gen Funding LLC joined this week’s new issue calendar with an amendment and extension transaction, and Cyanco Intermediate 2 Corp. emerged with plans for a refinancing.

Ascend weakens

Ascend Performance Materials’ term loan fell to 97½ bid, 98¼ offered on Wednesday from 97¾ bid, 98½ offered on Tuesday as S&P cut the company’s issuer credit and senior secured term loan ratings to B+ from BB-, according to a market source. The outlook is negative.

S&P said in the rating release that the downgrade reflects the company’s weak 2022 earnings and the expectation for continued weakness in 2023.

Over the past two quarters, the company faced challenges due to supply chain issues, weak demand, and excess inventory, the rating release explained.

The release added that the negative outlook reflects the expectation that the company’s credit metrics will remain elevated over the next 12 months as volumes and demand slowly stabilize.

Ascend Performance Materials is a Houston-based provider of chemicals, fibers and plastics.

Live Nation gains

Live Nation’s term loan rose to 98¾ bid, 99¾ offered on Wednesday from 98½ bid, 99½ offered on Tuesday as the company’s ratings were upgraded by S&P and the market in general was up by about a quarter of a point on the day, a market source said.

S&P lifted the company’s issuer credit rating to BB- from B+, senior secured debt rating to BB from BB- and unsecured debt rating to B+ from B. The outlook is stable.

The change in ratings reflects S&P’s expectation that Live Nation will sustain S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage of mid-4x in 2023 as concert ticket sale growth mitigates recession risks.

Overall, S&P expects a continued increase in events, higher ticket pricing, and growth in the company’s high-margin sponsorship segment to drive revenue and EBITDA growth of 10%-12% in 2023, the rating release added.

Live Nation is a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based provider of live music concerts and live entertainment ticketing sales and marketing services.

Helix Gen on deck

Helix Gen Funding set a lender call for 2 p.m. ET on Thursday to launch a $700 million senior secured term loan due Dec. 31, 2027, a market source remarked.

The term loan has 101 soft call protection for six months, the source said.

Barclays, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, MUFG, Mizuho and SMBC are leading the deal that will be used to amend and extend the company’s existing term loan B due June 30, 2024.

Helix is an independent power producer with about 2 GW of clean, high-quality dual-fuel generation located in the NYISO Zone J market.

Cyanco joins calendar

Cyanco will hold a lender call at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday to launch a $420 million five-year covenant-lite term loan B, according to a market source.

The term loan has 101 soft call protection for six months, the source said.

Commitments are due at noon ET on June 29.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc., RBC Capital Markets and Societe Generale are leading the deal that will be used to refinance an existing term loan B.

Cashless roll is available, the source added.

Cyanco is a Sugar Land, Tex.-based supplier of sodium cyanide and the only pure play provider in the market with world-scale capabilities in both liquid and solid-form NaCN.

Fund flows

In other news, actively managed loan fund flows on Tuesday were negative $30 million and loan ETFs were positive $35 million, market sources said.

Actively managed high-yield fund flows on Tuesday were positive $1 million and high-yield ETFs were positive $98 million, sources added.

Loan indices rise

IHS Markit’s iBoxx loan indices were stronger on Tuesday, with the Leveraged Loan indexes (MiLLi) closing out the day up 0.14% and the Liquid Leveraged Loan indices (LLLi) closing out the day up 0.19%.

Month to date, the MiLLi is up 1.22% and year to date it is up 5.17%, and the LLLi is up 1.49% month to date and up 5.39% year to date.

Average secondary market bids in the U.S. on Tuesday were 91.33, up 0.08% from the previous day and down 0.6% year to date.

According to the IHS Markit data, some of the top advancers on Tuesday were EyeCare Partners’ August 2022 incremental term loan at 69.83, up from 65, Win Waste/Waste Innovations’ March 2021 covenant-lite term loan B at 84.13, up from 81.2, and Anchor Glass’ July 2017 covenant-lite term loan at 77.25, up from 75.11.

Some top decliners on Tuesday were McAfee/Magenta’s May 2021 second-lien covenant-lite term loan at 59.17, down from 70, Trilliant Food’s April 2018 covenant-lite term loan B at 75, down from 79.5, and Cyxtera’s May 2017 covenant-lite term loan at 42.41, down from 44.29.

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