Wall Street Banks Look to Offload $1.35 Billion of Viasat Debt

A group of banks led by Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are looking to offload about $1.35 billion of debt tied to the acquisition of satellite company Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd. by Viasat Inc. as demand for risky debt rebounds.

(Bloomberg) — A group of banks led by Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are looking to offload about $1.35 billion of debt tied to the acquisition of satellite company Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd. by Viasat Inc. as demand for risky debt rebounds.

The banks are marketing a roughly $617 million leveraged loan that matures in May 2030 to take out debt they were forced to use to fund the purchase earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

They’re also trying to sell about $733 million of unsecured junk bonds maturing 2031 at a yield of 14% and a steep discounted price of about 70 cents on the dollar, the people said, asking not to be identified because the transaction is private.

A lender call for the loan is scheduled for 11 a.m. New York time on Wednesday, while a call for the bond is slated for Friday at 10 a.m., the people said.

Representatives for Bank of America, which is leading the loan sale, declined to comment. JPMorgan, which is managing the bond, didn’t respond to a request for comment. A representative for Viasat, which closed its acquisition of Inmarsat in May, didn’t provide additional comment beyond a statement Tuesday announcing the bond sale.

A slew of new junk-bond and loan offerings have been unleashed in recent days as credit markets recover. US leveraged loan prices have risen to the highest level since May 2022, according to Morningstar LSTA, approaching 96 cents on the dollar.

Average junk bond yields have also held steady, closing Tuesday at 8.54%, according to Bloomberg index data, having reached nearly 10% in October 2022.

Banks have been chipping away at the roughly $40 billion of debt they were left stuck with at the end of last year as credit markets seized up. Just last month, banks led by Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America sold over half of the debt that financed the acquisition of Tenneco Inc. by Apollo Global Management Inc. — albeit at rock-bottom prices.

The $1.2 billion Tenneco leveraged loan and $1.9 billion of junk bonds were sold to investors for just 85 cents on the dollar.

Read more: Banks Lost Big on Apollo Buyout Debt. Interest Eased the Pain.

Other buyout financings, underwritten more recently, are also currently being marketed.

A group of banks led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan launched a $4.4 billion debt sale to fund GTCR’s purchase of a majority stake in payment processor Worldpay Inc., one of the most hotly anticipated deals in the leveraged finance market this year.

Other notable debt transactions currently being marketed include a $3.7 billion deal to support a private equity consortium’s purchase of Syneos Health, and a $550 million loan to support Bain Capital Private Equity’s acquisition of Brazilian restaurant chain Fogo de Chão. More are expected to hit the market, including a roughly $1 billion deal to support KKR & Co.’s purchase of publisher Simon & Schuster.

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