Sankaty Advisors, the fixed-income subsidiary of Bain Capital, is said to be auctioning off a $250 million portfolio. Bids were due at 11 a.m. this morning and a trader said the major broker dealers competed. Jonathan Lavine, managing director and chief investment officer of Sankaty, could not be immediately reached. Other officials at Sankaty also did not return calls.
Another trader said the portfolio, which contains about 150 mostly par names, had to be completely bid for. He added that the winning bank would then look to sell it off piecemeal. No winner could be ascertained by press time.
Portfolio auctions have shot up in frequency this year. CLOs hitting the end of reinvestment periods and the demise of certain vehicles, such as the Sequils Mincs transactions, have led to numerous portfolio sales. Meanwhile, massive demand from investors needing to ramp up quickly has created a captive buying audience for portfolio trades.