CREDIT DAYBOOK AMERICAS: KKR Buys Chase Corp; Microsoft FTC Win

Private equity firm KKR is buying specialty-chemicals manufacturer Chase Corp. in a deal valued at about $1.3 billion. Microsoft’s success fighting the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to its $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, meanwhile, could ease the path to more deals at a time when Wall Street has been confronting a severe merger drought.

• The spread on the Markit CDX North American Investment Grade Index, which declines as credit risk drops, tightened 0.26 basis points to 65.5 as of 7:23 a.m. New York time
• KKR’s acquisition of Chase is an all-cash transaction, and is not subject to financing conditions, ...