Petrobras Crowned New King of Junk Bonds After Rating Downgrade

There’s a new king in the $2 trillion global junk bond market.

Brazil’s state-owned oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA, with $56 billion of outstanding securities, has become the world’s largest non-investment grade corporate issuer after Standard & Poor’s cut its credit rating seven months after a similar move by Moody’s Investors Service.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company tops Sprint Corp.’s $31 billion of bonds and Venezuelan energy giant PDVSA’s $36 billion of speculative grade notes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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