DISH offering helps J.P. Morgan retain lead as top media underwriter in 2021

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC secured the title as top debt adviser by deal credit for U.S. and Canadian media companies in 2021, thanks in part to its work on fourth-quarter issuances by subsidiaries of DISH Network Corp. and Warner Music Group Corp.

The investment bank extended its lead from the first nine months of 2021 into the fourth quarter, ending the year with about $6.03 billion in aggregate deal credit from 33 debt offerings, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In the fourth quarter, J.P. Morgan Securities was an underwriter for a two-part, $5.25 billion senior secured notes offering by DISH DBS Corp. The firm also advised WMG Acquisition Corp. on its $540 million senior secured notes offering.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. moved up one spot in the debt advisory rankings between Sept. 30 and Dec. 31, finishing the year at No. 2 with $5.22 billion in aggregate deal credit from 24 offerings. Deutsche Bank worked on DISH DBS' debt offering and DIRECTV Holdings LLC's $1.4 billion senior secured notes offering in the fourth quarter.

Morgan Stanley slipped to third place, with $4.14 billion in aggregate deal credit from 24 debt offerings at the end of 2021.

Debt was the most popular type of capital raise among U.S. and Canadian media companies in 2021, with 46 offerings worth $47.36 billion in aggregate, down from 79 offerings in 2020, with $76.88 billion in aggregate value.

The sector issued 13 common equity offerings and two preferred security offerings in 2021, compared to 14 common stock issuances and no preferred security offering in 2020. There was only one IPO in 2021.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC was the year's top adviser for common stock offerings in the media sector, receiving $738.6 million in aggregate deal credit from two offerings, including ViacomCBS Inc.'s $1.7 billion class B common stock issuance in the first quarter and Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s $455 million equity offering in the third quarter.

In the preferred securities category, ViacomCBS' $1 billion series A convertible preferred stock offering in the first quarter drove a six-way tie among Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Morgan Stanley and Siebert Williams Shank & Co. LLC. The firms each earned $166.7 million in related deal credit from the offering.