CAM High Yield Weekly Insights

Fund Flows & Issuance: According to Wells Fargo, flows week to date were $0.7 billion and year to date flows stand at $1.5 billion. New issuance for the week was $9 billion and year to date HY is at $17.6 billion.

(Globe Newswire) Pinnacle Foods Inc. Launches Proposed Refinancing

• On the heels of a strong finish to 2016, Pinnacle Foods intends to launch a refinancing of its outstanding indebtedness under its senior secured credit facilities
• The proposed refinancing is expected to result in interest expense comparable to or slightly below 2016, despite the impact of the rising interest rate environment on the Company’s floating rate debt. It is also expected to improve the Company’s debt maturity profile

(Washington Post) Trump signs executive order on the Affordable Care Act

• President Trump signed an executive order giving federal agencies broad powers to unwind regulations created under the Affordable Care Act
• The executive order, signed in the Oval Office as one of the new president’s first actions, directs agencies to grant relief to all constituencies affected by the sprawling 2010 health-care law: consumers, insurers, hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, states and others

(Press Release) Northern California County Selects Zayo for School District Connectivity

• The Office of Education for a northern California county has selected Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. for a dark fiber network that will connect 28 school districts. The 183-mile network includes 173 miles of network in place or already under construction and 10 miles of new build, which will be leveraged for follow-on tenants
• “Dark fiber is a highly scalable, cost-effective solution that provides the county with dedicated, high-capacity infrastructure,” said Dave Jones, executive vice president of Dark Fiber Solutions at Zayo. “They appreciate the flexibility of a solution they can manage themselves to meet the dynamic, long-terms needs of the county.”

(PR Newswire) Royal Caribbean Reports Over 25% Increase In Earnings And Anticipates Fifth Consecutive Year Of Double Digit Earnings Growth In 2017

• The company’s booked position for 2017 is better than last year’s record high, and at higher rates. Strength from North American consumers is driving exceptionally positive trends for North American and European products
• “Our global portfolio of products is demonstrating strength across virtually all key markets, positioning us to deliver strong yield growth in 2017,” said Jason T. Liberty, chief financial officer. “Strong topline growth combined with continued focus on cost management will generate another year of record setting results. Even with significant pressure from FX and fuel, we will deliver another stellar year.”

(Bloomberg) United Rentals to Acquire Competitor NES in $965 Million Deal

• United Rentals Inc. agreed to buy NES Rentals Holdings II for $965 million to bolster its equipment-leasing operations in regions such as the U.S. East Coast and Midwest
• Buying NES, which generated sales last year of $369 million, “will augment our revenue, earnings, Ebitda, free cash flow and overall scale,”Michael Kneeland, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said in the statement

(Bloomberg) Spectrum Brands Reports 1Q Results

• 1Q net sales $1.21b, est. $1.22b (range $1.21b-$1.25b)
• 1Q gross margin 37.1%, est. 36.6%
• Sees FY17 free cash flow $575m to $590m, est. $567.6m

(Bloomberg) Verizon Exploring Possible Combination With Charter

• A combination of Verizon and Charter would follow several recent industry mega-mergers, including Charter’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, which made the Stamford, Connecticut-based company, partly owned by billionaire John Malone, the second-largest cable operator in the U.S. behind Comcast. Verizon, while facing a slowdown in its core wireless business, is the No. 1 mobile carrier and No. 2 telecommunications provider

(Bloomberg) Dialysis Provider Donation Disclosure Rule Blocked

• A federal rule requiring kidney dialysis providers such as U.S. Renal Care Inc. and DaVita Inc. to disclose their donations to charities that provide premium assistance for dialysis patients can’t be enforced by the HHS
• Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a preliminary injunction against the rule Jan. 25, finding the Department of Health and Human Services didn’t follow the proper rulemaking procedure when implementing the rule. The court further said the rule, if implemented, would harm dialysis patients by leaving them with no insurance coverage for their treatment
• Dialysis providers generally receive more reimbursement for dialysis treatments covered by private insurance, including plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges, than by Medicare or Medicaid plans. Providers said the HHS rule was flawed because it had the effect of allowing private insurers to refuse to cover patients once they learned that the patients received premium assistance from those charitable donations