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(Bloomberg) -- Fresh from a grueling restructuring, French IT firm Atos SE’s bonds are among the surprise winners in Europe’s junk debt market this year, part of a trend investors are dubbing “the dash for trash.”

Three of its notes issued as part of its overhaul have been some of the best performers in European high-yield this year, including two which sit in the lowest bracket of junk ratings. Other low-rated junk bonds issued by troubled companies, including Altice France SA and car parts supplier Standard Profil Automotive GmbH, have also done well.

The trend seeks to profit from bets on recently-restructured companies with high coupons, given spreads on high-yield bonds are near the tightest in years and there’s little in the way of fresh debt.

“It’s no surprise in this environment that investors are willing to turn the pages again on spicier names — and even those which restructured in recent history,” said Simon Matthews, a senior portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman. “The opportunity set with credit spreads back at tights has become sparse.”

While its US counterpart has been hit by fears over the implications of trade tensions on growth, Europe’s market has been relatively insulated. That’s leaving managers on the continent still on the hunt for yield.

Other big gainers in Europe’s junk market this year include the bonds of Patrick Drahi’s Altice France, which finally agreed a deal with lenders in February after months of haggling. Germany’s Standard Profil, which is currently undergoing debt negotiations with lenders, has also seen its notes gain nearly 15 cents on the euro so far this year.

A spokesperson for Atos declined to comment. Representatives for Altice France and Standard Profil didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The moves are happening as investors look for ways to put a tidal wave of cash to work. The risk premium on Bloomberg’s pan-European high yield index shrunk to 301 basis points last week, the lowest in more than three years. While spreads have widened since then on the back of geopolitical tensions, they remain around 100 basis points tighter than the historical five-year average.

At the same time, new issuance in the primary market has been slow, with dealmaking being held back by market volatility and geopolitical tensions.

That’s created huge demand for bonds with high coupons — like Atos’s new 2029 bond, which has a coupon of 9%, versus the average of 5% in Bloomberg’s high yield index. That note is currently trading at 109 cents on the euro, up 19 cents since the start of the year. Two lower-rated bonds have both risen by more than 25 cents.

“Liquidity is very tight — it’s very difficult to find bonds you want to buy in the secondary market absent an appreciable primary market,” said Marco Salcoacci, an investment manager at Union Investment, adding that a possible pick-up in issuance could change the dynamic.

Clean Slate

Those rushing to buy Atos’s bonds are betting on a clean slate for the company once hailed as a rising star of France’s tech industry. Traders at JPMorgan Chase & Co. were pitching Atos’s new bonds and loans even before the debt was issued, saying that the company now has ample liquidity, while operational trends are “encouraging.”

A planned sale of the Mission Critical Systems unit is also helping sentiment, given its focus on defense at a time that Europe is planning major increases to military spending.

Investors are also looking at other firms fresh out of restructuring processes, according to the market participants who spoke about the demand for lowly-rated credits.

On the list are Loewen Play’s bonds, which carry a 9.25% coupon. The German gaming firm has rejigged its debt twice in recent years. Some are also eying the first-lien debt of troubled real estate landlord Adler Group, which struck a deal late last year to refinance at cheaper levels after undertaking its second restructuring in two years.

Representatives for Loewen Play and Adler didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Of course, piling into riskier bonds doesn’t always pay off. The high-yield market has plenty of examples of firms that — despite in theory fixing their balance sheets in restructurings — have soon after descended into more debt negotiations, causing complications for investors. Spanish gambling company Codere SA, Norwegian cruise line operator Hurtigruten Group AS and paper producer Lecta SA are among firms that have gone through multiple debt overhauls.

But at the moment, with investors sitting on cash and Europe’s high-yield market holding up better than its US counterpart, the “dash for trash” on this side of the Atlantic may continue.

Limited net new issuance as well as manageable upcoming debt deadlines has “increased the ‘scarcity value’ of the high yield market” in Europe, CreditSights analysts including Mary Pollock wrote in a note this week.

“There is simply too much money chasing too few opportunities.”