ICE index exclusion may slow Warner Bros $14.3 billion bonds move to junk portfolios, affecting investors

From Yahoo Finance: 2025-06-30 14:17:00

Warner Bros Discovery’s $14.3 billion bonds face a delay in moving to high-yield portfolios due to exclusion from ICE BofA High Yield Index until August, following recent downgrades and debt buyback. This could impact investors buying or selling the bonds, making trading difficult. ICE reevaluating criteria and impact of recent events.

Despite ICE’s exclusion, Bloomberg is set to include Warner Bros bonds in its junk bond index next month. BofA analysts note a tightening of credit spreads on March 2032 bonds in anticipation of high-yield account purchases, but expect some reversal. A trading pause from June 11 to June 25 and rating agency downgrades contribute to delays.

Warner Bros debt is expected to make up 1% of ICE BofA High Yield Index upon eventual inclusion. With 35% of high-yield portfolios benchmarked to ICE, exclusion and trading pause may affect investor interest. ICE Data Indices reevaluating inclusion criteria due to recent downgrades and debt buyback by Warner Bros.



Read more at Yahoo Finance: ICE index exclusion likely to slow Warner Bros $14.3 billion bonds move to junk portfolios, BofA says