HCA Inc., the biggest U.S. hospital chain, sold $500 million of seven-year bonds as high-yield issuance revives.
Proceeds may be used to buy Colorado Health Foundation’s ownership interest in a joint venture that operates seven hospitals and 13 ambulatory surgery centers in and around Denver, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 8 percent notes yield 652 basis points, or 6.52 percentage points, more than similar-maturity Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA tapped the high-yield, high- risk bond market for the second time this year after issuing $5 billion of notes on July 26 in the biggest junk debt offering since 2008. Companies have sold $5.1 billion of the securities this month through Monday, compared with $1 billion in August, Bloomberg data show.
Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo & Co. managed the sale, according to the filing.
HCA agreed to purchase the stake in the HCA-HealthONE LLC joint venture for $1.45 billion, the company said June 15 in a statement distributed by Business Wire.
The company is graded B3 by Moody’s Investors Service. High yield, or junk, debt is rated below Baa3 by Moody’s and less than BBB- by Standard & Poor’s. HCA was taken private in a $33 billion leveraged buyout in 2006 by KKR & Co., Bain Capital LLC, Merrill Lynch & Co. and company co-founder Thomas F. Frist Jr. The company raised $3.79 billion in its initial public offering in March.
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