Owens-Illinois Inc. yesterday extended the expiration date for tender offers on five classes of its junk bonds until Dec. 11.
The extension, the third so far, comes just before Owens-Illinois plans to offer 60 million shares of new equity at $13 to $16 a share, as well as $1 billion of new high-yield debt, John Hoff, a company spokesman said.
Proceeds from those two offerings will be used to fund the tender offers, he said.
"I think the market is going to be very receptive to the junk bonds," one high-yield analyst said. Price talk on the offering is 10 1/2%, the analyst said. A high-yield trader said the price talk was on target. He added that the deal would attract some investment-grade buyers.
"It's definitely a cross-over type issue," he said.
Morgan Stanley & Co. is the lead underwriter of the equity offering, while Merrill Lynch & Co. is the lead underwriter on the debt offering.
Mr. Hoff could not confirm the timing, but said both deals were likely to be completed within the next two weeks.
The latest deadline for bondholders to tender their debt expired Dec. 2, he said. The new deadline ends at 11 a.m. EST on Dec. 11. However, it will likely be extended again to expire after the stock and bond deals close, he said.
As of 5 p.m. Dec. 2, Owens-Illinois had received tenders representing about 91.9% of its Series A senior reset notes, 98.7% of its Series C senior reset notes, 87.8% of its junior discount debentures, and tenders of $294.6 million principal amount of 12.25% notes.
The $294.6 million exceeds the $120 million of the 12.25% notes the company has offered to purchase. As of Nov. 15, the company received tenders of 100% of the Series B senior reset notes.
Merrill Lynch & Co., BT Securities Corp., and Goldman, Sachs & Co. are the dealer managers for the tender offers.
The high-yield market ended the day about 1/4 point softer as new-issue fever continued to steal the secondary market's thunder. The high-grade market moved up 1/8 to 1/4 point in secondary trading yesterday, traders said.
Among yesterday's new debt issues was Alabama Power Co.'s $150 million of 8.750% first mortgage bonds due 2021. Nonrefundable for five years, the bonds were priced at 99.50 to yield 8.797% or 88 basis points over comparable Treasuries. Moody's Investors Service rates the bonds A1, while Standard & Poor's Corp. rates them A. Salomon Brothers won competitive bidding to manage the offering.
The Federal National Mortgage Association issued $150 million of 5.8% medium-term notes at par. Due in 1994, the notes are noncallable for one year. They were priced to yield 11 basis points over comparable Treasuries. Lehman Brothers sole managed the offering.
Fleet Norstar Financial Group Inc. issued $150 million of 9% subordinated notes at par due 2000. The noncallable notes were priced to yield 168 basis points over comparable Treasuries. The deal was increased from $100 million. Moody's rates the notes Baa3, while Standard & Poor's rates them BBB. Salomon Brothers Inc. was lead manager of the offering.
Morgan Stanley Group issued $150 million of 7.875% senior notes due 1998. The noncallable notes were priced at 99.92 to yield 7.890%, or 105 basis points over seven-year Treasuries. Moody's rates the offering A1, while Standard & Poor's rates it A-plus. Morgan Stanley was lead manager of the offering.
Wisconsin Electric Power Co. issued $100 million of 8 3/8% first mortgage bonds due 2026. Noncallable for 10 years, the bonds were priced at 97.46 to yield 8.605%, or 69 basis points over comparable Treasuries. Moody's rates the bonds Aa2, while Standard & Poor's rates it AA-plus. Goldman Sachs and Kidder, Peabody & Co. won the right to underwrite the offering through competitive bidding.
In yesterday's rating activity, Standard & Poor's upgraded Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.'s senior debt to BBB-plus from CCC and subordinated debt to BBB from CCC-minus, affecting about $179.8 million of debt. The agency removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where it placed them April 26 with negative implications. Implications later improved to positive.
"The actions follow the acquisition of Harcourt Brace by General Cinema Corp. in an all-cash tender offer," a Standard & Poor's release said.
Also yesterday, Standard & Poor's assigned an A-1-plus rating to Southeast Corporate Federal Credit Union's proposed commercial paper program. The rating reflects "the institution's excellent asset quality, negligible interest rate risk, ample liquidity, and adequate risk-adjusted capital," according to a Standard & Poor's release.
"Southeast also benefits from its market position as a liquidity and investments services provider to credit unions in Florida and Mississippi, and from its membership in U.S. Central Credit Union, the credit union industry's primary financial services provider," the release said.
