U.S. Junk-Bond Buyers Left in Dark as Private Deals Become Norm

The riskiest corporate borrowers are selling more debt than ever in the darkest corner of the bond market.

For the first time, a majority of U.S. speculative-grade debt issued this year was done through private offerings, accounting for a record 60 percent of all sales in 2015, up from 40 percent last year, according to Xtract Research LLC. The sales exempt borrowers from U.S. securities laws requiring minimum financial disclosure and investor protections. Such debt allowed Murray Energy Corp. to raise $1.3 billion to become the third-largest coal producer in America and gave Citgo Petroleum Corp. $1.5 billion to fund a dividend to its Venezuelan parent.