Secretive Junk-Bond Deals Boom as Yield Hunt Gives Issuers Edge
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Junk-rated U.S. companies are increasingly taking advantage of yield-hungry investors by issuing notes that require no public financial disclosure.
More than 55 percent, or about $50 billion, of speculative-grade debt securities sold this year were through deals known as private placements for life, borrowings that don’t require any public registration, according to Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ Leveraged Commentary and Data. That’s up from a record 40 percent share of the junk-bond market in 2014.