Hughes Electronics' $600 million add-on has been well received with $20-30 million trading at par to 100 3/8 since the paper broke into secondary market last week. One dealer said the paper is believed to have traded as high as 100 1/2. Market players said the name was trading among its original bank group as buyers who were pared back on allocation look to fulfill their original hunger for the name.
The Bank of America-led deal blew out with more than $1 billion of commitments two weeks after its launch (LMW, 3/18). "We are pleased that the demand for our paper is strong," said George Jamison, company spokesman. He also noted that subscriber additions for the company's DIRECTV service will exceed earlier expectations for the first quarter.