More than $50 million of Silgan Holdings traded around the 100 1/2 level last week. Traders said the food packaging company is a well-known credit that investors are comfortable with. When a shockwave like WorldCom goes through the market, investors retreat to names they are comfortable with--names with no news, one dealer explained, adding that credits like this just bounce along and remain untouched. At the end of last week, the paper was quoted in the 100 1/4 to 100 3/4 range.
Silgan Holdings did very well in syndication, despite pricing of LIBOR plus 2% on its $350 million "B" term loan. Institutional investors reportedly had committed more than $1 billion to the "B" piece before the bank meeting was held (LMW, 5/6). Calls to Anthony Allott, cfo, were not returned by press time.