CAM High Yield Weekly Insights

Fund Flows & Issuance: According to Wells Fargo, flows week to date were $0.4 billion and year to date flows stand at -$4.1 billion. New issuance for the week was $2.4 billion and year to date HY is at $110 billion.

(Reuters) Oil rises after Saudi and Russia back longer supply cut

• Oil jumped more than 2 percent to its highest in more than three weeks, topping $52 a barrel after Saudi Arabia and Russia said that supply cuts need to last into 2018, a step toward extending an OPEC-led deal to support prices for longer than first agreed.
• Energy ministers from the world’s two top producers said that supply cuts should be prolonged for nine months, until March 2018. That is longer than the optional six-month extension specified in the deal.
• Oil traders were surprised by the strong wording of the announcement, though it remained to be seen whether all countries participating in the deal would agree with the Saudi-Russian stance. Some analysts said that U.S. production could still threaten to disrupt the market balance unless the cuts were deepened.

(Globe Newswire) Avis Budget Group Announces Resignation of David Wyshner, President and CFO

• Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) today announced the resignation of David B. Wyshner, President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Wyshner, who has served as the Company’s chief financial officer since 2006 and its president since January 2016, will leave the Company in June to pursue other opportunities.
• “During his tenure at the Company, David consistently delivered results, and was instrumental in growing our global footprint and deploying our cash flow to enhance shareholder value,” said Larry De Shon, Avis Budget Group Chief Executive Officer. “We thank David for the work he has done and his dedication to our Company, which have positively impacted our strategies and contributed to our success, and wish him all the best in the future.”
• “I am proud of what the Company has done to drive its evolution as a leading global player in its industry,” said Mr. Wyshner. “I look forward to moving on to new opportunities. At the same time, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to have played a role in Avis Budget Group’s development and to have worked with so many talented colleagues.”
• The Company intends to appoint Martyn Smith, who previously served as finance director of the Company’s Avis Budget EMEA subsidiary and of Avis Europe plc, to serve as interim chief financial officer and is conducting a search to fill the CFO position on a permanent basis.

(Business Wire) Thomas J. Aaron Named Chief Financial Officer of Community Health Systems

• Aaron joined Community Health Systems in November 2016 following a 32-year career at Deloitte & Touche LLP where he retired as Tennessee Managing Partner. He led teams for many of the firm’s largest national healthcare provider and payer clients, including Community Health Systems, most recently in 2013.
• Aaron succeeds W. Larry Cash, who retired May 16, 2017, after 20 years of service as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer.

(Benzinga) Signs A Sprint, T-Mobile Tie-Up Is Gaining Momentum

• A long awaited Sprint Corp merger may be closer to completion than previously anticipated.
• Sprint’s parent company SoftBank may be starting informal deal discussions with Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company, according to several recent press reports.
• Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son previously stated that the preferred option of a Sprint merger was with T-Mobile.
• According to Barclays’ analyst Amir Rozwadowski, the deal will ultimately come down to whether both parent companies can close a complicated and wide bid-ask spread.
• Based on recent Barclays’ meetings with company management, T-Mobile has expressed it wants clear operational ownership in order to make sure a potential deal does not disrupt its three-year growth plan.
• Rozwadowski believes Softbank is more flexible to get the deal done, especially after expressing a clear preference for a deal with T-Mobile. “We believe core considerations for Sprint would include value attribution to its expected margin expansion/and cash flow improvement, and significant 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings. Given its admission that it would be a willing buyer or seller, we believe the company seems more flexible on ownership structure.”

(The Hill) Sinclair deal puts heat on FCC

• The proposed acquisition by Sinclair Broadcasting Group of Tribune Media Company is inflaming criticism of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which helped pave the way for the deal by relaxing media ownership restrictions.
• Sinclair announced earlier this month that it had reached an agreement to buy Tribune for $3.9 billion. The announcement came several weeks after the FCC voted to ease restrictions on the amount of local television stations that broadcasters can own.
• Broadcasters are now limited to serving 39 percent of the country’s households. Last month, the FCC reinstated what’s known as the UHF discount, which makes stations that used to broadcast on ultra-high frequency count less toward the 39 percent ownership limit.
• Without the discount, Sinclair already reaches 38 percent of U.S. households, according to an analysis from Fitch Ratings. Once the discount goes into effect, the Fitch study finds, Sinclair’s share will drop to 25 percent — giving the company more room to buy local television stations.
• The deal with Tribune is still likely to push Sinclair over the media limit, and the company has said that it will explore ways to avoid exceeding the cap.