Record Municipal Junk Bond for Hospital Set as Market Draws Cash
- California hospital to double debt, triggering ratings cuts
- Investors seek income as yields hover near five-decade low
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The need to protect against earthquakes is about to jolt the municipal junk-bond market from its slumber.
California’s Loma Linda University Medical Center on Wednesday is planning the biggest speculative grade, tax-exempt health-care deal since at least 1990, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $883 million sale will finance an expansion and overhaul to comply with the state’s seismic safety requirements, a project that will double the center’s debt and triggered a fall from investment grade last year.