Bank Loan Report articles from February 2005

Bank Loan Report archives from February 2005

Optional Loan Prepayment Provisions Could Hurt A Co's Credit.
February 7, 2005... As mutual funds, collateralized loan obligations and other non-bank institutions have become big players in the leveraged loan market, cash sweeps - which are mechanisms in an agreement used to delever a loan earlier in the deal's tenor by...

Scores of Euro Restructurings Expected.(industries)
February 7, 2005... Europe might see more restructurings than usual across many industries in the coming years. That's because there are several dynamics taking shape on the continent that may spur more distressed situations than would typically occur in a...

DebtX Opens Platform To Competitors.(DebtX Securities Inc. launched DXOpen, a new service)
February 7, 2005... DebtX, a full-service loan sale advisor for traditionally illiquid commercial debt, has opened its online marketplace of more than 3,000 buyers to financial institutions, including larger commercial banks, insurance companies, investment banks...

Deutsche Bank, SunTrust To Lead Lee Enterprises Financing.(to acquire Pulitzer Inc.)
February 7, 2005... Deutsche Bank and SunTrust Banks will arrange a $1.55 billion credit facility for Lee Enterprises, which announced late last month that it was acquiring Pulitzer, the newspaper chain founded by legendary journalist Joseph Pulitzer. The...

Synagro In Market For $305 Million Facility.(Synagro Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Synagro Technologies is seeking a $305 million credit facility that includes a $95 million, five-year revolver; a $180 million, seven-year term loan; and a $30 million delayed-draw term loan, according to an SEC filing. Bank of America, Lehman...

Masonite Bank Meeting This Week.(Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. buyouts Masonite International Corp., new name is Stile Acquisition Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Deutsche Bank, SunTrust, UBS and the Bank of Montreal have joined lead arranger Scotia Capital in arranging debt financing for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s (KKR) $3.1 billion (Canadian dollar) buyout of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-based...

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Seeks Amended Facility.(finance)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Las Vegas Sands Corp. is seeking to amend its existing bank facility via Goldman Sachs and Scotia Capital. Under the amended facility, the revolver would be increased from $125 million to $400 million and the term loan facility would be...

BNP Taps D'Anselmo Co-Head Of UK Leveraged Finance.(BNP Paribas appointed Nicola D'Anselmo)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Last week, BNP Paribas announced that Nicola D'Anselmo joined Mike Johnson on February 1, as co-head of leveraged finance in the UK. D'Anselmo will retain his position as head of leveraged finance for Italy, a position he has held since 1998....

Spencer Joins Caylon As Loan Team Director.(Calyon Americas appointed Vincent Spencer)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Calyon Americas, the corporate and investment bank of the Credit Agricole Group in New York, announced last week that Vincent Spencer has been hired by the bank as a director of the bank's structuring team in loan syndication. Spencer, who most...

Summers To Depart LSTA.(Jane Summers to resign from Loan Syndications and Trading Association)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Jane Summers, executive vice president and general counsel at the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), is set to resign from her post in the near future in order to pursue opportunities in the private sector. Her exact departure...

Ratings Movers: Vegas Sands Wins Upgrade/EaglePicher Sinks.(Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Venetian Casino Resort LLC)
February 7, 2005... Things are looking up for Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVSC) and its subsidiary, Venetian Casino Resort LLC, which saw their corporate credit and bank loan ratings upgraded to BB- from B+ by Standard & Poor's last week. "The upgrade reflects the...

Second Liens Will Ride In 05, But Growing Pains' Expected.
February 7, 2005... Last year was certainly a banner year for second lien loan issuance, especially considering that there were more second liens issued in 2004 than in the past seven years combined. And market players expect the debt product to maintain its...

Second Lien Secondary Warms Up.(collateralized loan obligations)
February 7, 2005... The secondary market for second lien loans is yet to establish itself as a regular fixture on the menu for dedicated loan investors such as prime rate funds and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), but by the sound of it, there is a great...

Pricing It Right? Rates Pose A Challenge.(second lien term loans)
February 7, 2005... The second lien term loan has become increasingly popular in the leveraged loan market, appearing in several leveraged credits on a regular basis. But as the second lien is increasingly used as a financing solution for issuers, arrangers face a...

the second lien bank loan report.(comments)
February 7, 2005... In Their Own Words: Market Players' Thoughts On Second Liens BLR has spoken to various market constituents about the second lien loan product since its popularity began to grow in the institutional market more than a year ago. Here is a...

Second Lien Market Likely To Maintain 04's Heated Pace.(GE Commercial Finance Capital Markets)
February 7, 2005... By Kevin Burke, managing director and head of sales, GE Commercial Finance Capital Markets In 05, the market for second lien loans appears poised to continue, and perhaps exceed, the hectic pace of 04. Growth drivers include insatiable...

Why Issuers Are Keen On Second Liens' Flexibility, Pricing.
February 7, 2005... Several leveraged loan market issuers, especially middle market companies, have welcomed the second lien loan product with open arms over the past year to year-and-a-half. They especially like the flexibility and rates the loans offer. And with...

Ratings Agencies React To Second Liens In CLOs.(collateralized loan obligations)
February 7, 2005... Second lien bank loans have been more frequently appearing in new collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), especially as managers look for higher yielding collateral during this period of historically tight spreads. Second liens offer between...

Trends To Watch In The Middle Market CLO Market For 2005.(collateralized loan obligations)
February 7, 2005... John M. Timperio is a partner and Gerald F. Keefe is an associate in the bank financing and securitization, corporate finance and securities, finance and real estate group at Dechert LLP. Timperio and Keefe offered the following assessment...

ABL MM Lenders Look To IP Collateral For Second Lien Loans.(middle market asset, intellectual property )
February 14, 2005... Issuers and investors have flocked to the second lien loan market over the past year-and-a-half, sparking US second lien volume of at least $12 billion in 2004 alone - the most on record. This heightened popularity of the often-yieldy debt...

In Vegas, players bet on 2nd liens' fate.(Strategic Resource Institute's Premier Forum on Tranche B/Second Lien & Junior Debt Financing)
February 14, 2005... After taking the market by storm since mid-2003, it was about time second liens took center stage at a market conference - at least that's what one would presume by the sight of hundreds of guests at Strategic Resource Institute's Premier Forum...

Euro Lev. Finance Mart Is Still Revved Up.(leveraged)
February 14, 2005... The European leveraged finance market has never been busier. Fund managers and bankers, ragged and worn out at year-end 2004, are already exhausted at the sheer pace of activity thus far in 2005, both in the high yield bond and leveraged loan...

Maillet Reemerges In Market To Head Noble Asset Management.(Jeffrey Maillet)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Veteran debt investor, Jeffrey Maillet, has reemerged in the market with his own asset management firm - called Noble Asset Management (NAM). The Chicago-based fund employs multiple strategies, including long/short special situations,...

Bank Trio Launches Madison River.(Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers to credit for Madison River Communications Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers launched syndication last Thursday of a credit facility for Madison River Communications Corp. in connection with the company's announced $345 million IPO. Price talk for the term loan B is said...

Oriental Trading Seeks Add-On.(BNP Paribas S.A. and Credit Suisse First Boston L.L.C.'s investments)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Oriental Trading Company is in the market with a $72 million add-on to its existing $376.8 million credit facility. The company is seeking to add $30 million to its first lien term loan B and $42 million to its $80 million second lien loan. ...

UBS Launches American Safety Razor Deal.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Last Thursday, sole lead UBS launched syndication of a dividend recapitalization deal for American Safety Razor Co. The proceeds from the new $312.5 facility will go toward paying a $92 million dividend to existing shareholders, which includes...

Banks To Shop ALM Facility.(Credit Suisse First Boston L.L.C., GE Capital, UBS AG, American Lawyer Media Inc.'s recapitalization)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... American Lawyer Media Holdings (ALM), which announced a complete recapitalization in January, is seeking to complete a $344.5 million credit facility via lenders including CSFB, UBS and GE Capital. The facility will be comprised of a $70...

Fitch Updates CDO Asset Manager Program.(collateralized debt obligation)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Fitch Ratings has updated its Global CDO (collateralized debt obligation) Asset Manager program. Most notable among the updates is Fitch's consolidation of scored factors into seven categories rather than the previous nine. The asset manager...

GE CF Corp. Lending Taps New Western MD.(Andrew Waterson, managing director )(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Also at GE CF, the company's corporate lending division announced that Andrew Waterson is now managing director for the west region. In his new position, Waterson will be in charge of serving companies that borrow at least $30 million in the...

GE CF To Provide Financing for Clean Energy Cos.(GE Commercial Finance)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... In an effort to meet the growing demand for clean energy and its related fields, GE Commercial Finance (GE CF) has launched an initiative - a joint venture of GE CF's Technology Lending and Energy Financial Services businesses - to provide...

Ratings Movers: SemGroup's Ratings Rise, Innophos, Intelsat Fall.
February 14, 2005... On the upgrades list this week is Tulsa, Okla.-based SemGroup LP, which gathers, transports, stores and markets crude oil, refined products, natural gas liquids and natural gas. The company announced its acquisition of three propane and...

Credit Defaults Are On The Horizon, But When?
February 14, 2005... The next round of defaults is certainly expected, as suggested by several market indicators. However, when the downturn will occur still remains uncertain. While the loan market continues to see low default rates, thin credit spreads and...

Aladdin Expands CDO Biz With Relative Value Opp. Fund.(collateralized debt obligation, opportunity)(Aladdin Capital Management)
February 14, 2005... Investment manager Aladdin Capital Management, which has issued four collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), a high-grade collateralized debt obligation (CDO) and one synthetic transaction to date, will soon begin purchasing structured finance...

Pacific & Western Credit Start Structured Fin. Team.(finance)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Ontario, Canada-based Pacific & Western Credit Corp. announced earlier this month that it has created a structured finance team to concentrate on transactions that have long lead times or need a high level of due diligence or structuring to...

Deerfield Capital Grows Its Business Rapidly, But Prudently'.(Deerfield Capital Management)
February 21, 2005... Deerfield Capital Management, a Chicago-based asset management firm whose portfolio includes bank debt, asset-backed securities and bond investments, is intently focused on growth these days. However, in doing so, the firm plans to maintain a...

Star Gas CEO Is In The Hot Seat.(Star Gas Partners L.P.'s Irik Sevin )
February 21, 2005... It looks like Star Gas Partners' chairman, president and CEO, Irik Sevin is in the hot seat. That's because debtholders, namely hedge fund Third Point LLC and its CEO, Daniel Loeb, have had enough of the company's lackluster performance. And...

Fitch To Launch Recovery Ratings.
February 21, 2005... In an effort to provide more detail on recovery prospects and bring greater transparency to the rating process, Fitch Ratings announced last week that it plans to issue two new types of ratings, an issuer default rating (IDR) and a recovery...

CSFB, PNC To Lead Deal To Back PennEngineering Buy By Tinicum.(Credit Suisse First Boston L.L.C., PNC Capital Markets, PennEngineering & Manufacturing Corp., Tinicum Capital Partners LP.)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Credit Suisse First Boston and PNC Capital Markets have agreed to arrange a $235 million credit facility in connection with the acquisition of PennEngineering & Manufacturing Corp. by private investment partnership Tinicum Capital Partners LP....

JP Morgan, Bear Stearns Shop Telcordia.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., Bear Stearns Companies Inc., Telcordia Technologies Inc., leveraged buyout finance)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... JP Morgan and Bear Stearns launched syndication last Wednesday of a $620 billion credit facility for Piscataway, N.J.-based Telcordia Technologies. The new credit facility is in connection with the $1.35 billion leveraged buyout (LBO) of...

Endurance Media In Market.(Endurance Business Media's finance)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... In connection with its dividend recapitalization, Endurance Business Media (EBM) is in the market with a $120 million credit facility that includes a $20 million, six-year revolver and a $100 million, seven-year term loan B. Price talk for...

Masonite Bank Meeting Canceled.(Masonite International Corp. with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co.)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... In light of anticipation that Masonite International Corp.'s shareholders would reject Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s $3.1 billion Canadian dollar-denominated leveraged buyout (LBO) of the Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-based door maker, a bank...

Patrick Joins GE CF Corporate Lending.(GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending appointed Paul Patrick)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending announced last week that Paul Patrick was appointed as senior vice president of origination for the Texas market. In his new role, Patrick will be in charge of new business development initiatives for the...

LSTA Adds Basta As VP Of Market Data.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association, Ted Basta, vice president)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Last week, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) announced that Ted Basta has come on board as its new vice president of market data. Basta, who most recently worked for Loan Pricing Corp. (LPC) as vice president and director of...

Mell Joins AEG Partners.(Scott Mell )(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Restructuring professional Scott Mell recently joined AEG Partners as a senior director. He will report directly to Craig Dean and Larry Adelman, both principals and managing directors at the firm. Mell previously worked at Ernst & Young...

Morgan Joseph Brings On Bruder.(Morgan Joseph and Company Inc. appointed Michael Bruder)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Morgan Joseph & Co., an investment banking firm that focuses on the middle market, announced the appointment of Michael Bruder last week as managing director in the firm's restructuring group. Bruder was formerly a principal since 1999 at...

BoI Adds New Media Finance Team.(Bank of Ireland)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Bank of Ireland Corporate has recruited a new media finance team in the UK in order to enhance its business in the sector. Bill Greaves, head of media, who joined the bank earlier this month, will head up the five-member team. The new...

ABN Has New Name For Standard Federal.(ABN Amro, Standard Federal Bank, LaSalle Bank Midwest)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... ABN Amro subsidiary LaSalle Bank Corp. plans to rebrand its Michigan-based unit - Standard Federal Bank - later this year, at which time the bank's name will change to LaSalle Bank Midwest. The move is intended to align the Michigan market to...

BARX Available In Asia Pacific.(Barclays Capital Inc., Barclays Automated Real-time eXecution service )(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Barclays Capital announced the launch last week of Barclays Automated Real-time eXecution service (BARX), an electronic trading platform for Bloomberg users in the Asia Pacific region. The service, which is already available in the US and...

Citigroup Merges Holding Cos.(Citigroup Holdings Co. and Citicorp)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Citigroup announced a plan earlier this month to merge its investment bank holding companies - Citigroup Holdings Company and Citicorp into Citigroup Inc. The merge, which is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, will result...

Ratings Movers: Healthy Week For Herbalife/Not For Winn-Dixie.
February 21, 2005... A number of issuers saw their bank debt upgraded last week, including that of Cayman Islands-based Herbalife Ltd. Standard & Poor's upgraded the company's bank debt, which consists of a $25 million revolver and a $200 million term loan, to BB...

Japanese CDO Market Experienced Decreased Action Last Year.(collateralized debt obligations)
February 21, 2005... With the finalized numbers now in, it appears the market for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) in Japan cooled its heels when it came to new issuance last year. Moody's Investors Service said that 20 Japanese CDOs were rated in 2004...

Flurry Of Publishing Deals Indicates Sector's Improvement.
February 28, 2005... The publishing industry has been on the up and up, having improved its performance significantly in 2004. And such improvement in the sector has opened the window for some issuers in the industry to access the loan market, as seen by a recent...

UCM Outlines Big Growth Plans.(United Capital Markets)
February 28, 2005... At this year's ABS West 2005 conference, United Capital Markets (UCM) president John Devaney outlined his plans for his firm's expansion plans in the coming 12 to 24 months, although few of the chattering conference attendees were listening....

A Look At The Changing Face Of Defaults.
February 28, 2005... It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that a boom in new debt issuance drives up corporate default risk. But experts who have predicted a rise in the default rate toward the latter part of this year and into next year have added a...

BofA Taps Mixon For New Role As Head Of Credit Syndicate.(Bank of America)
February 28, 2005... Last week, Bank of America announced that Arrington Mixon will become the bank's new global head of credit syndicate, a new position in which she will be responsible for enhancing the integration of the bank's syndicate functions across loans...

Goodyear Seeks Refinancing.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... As part of a larger strategy to improve its capital structure, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced last week that it is in the market with a $3.35 billion refinancing deal. The announcement was made in connection with news from the...

National Dairy Launches.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... In connection with a recapitalization, Wachovia also launched syndication last week of a $250 million credit facility for National Dairy Holdings. The deal includes a $75 million, six-year revolver and a $175 million, seven term loan B; pricing...

JP Morgan, Citigroup Shop Allied Waste.
February 28, 2005... JP Morgan and Citigroup launched syndication last Thursday of a $3.45 billion refinancing for Allied Waste Industries Inc. The deal includes a $1.55 billion, five-year revolver; a $1.45 billion, seven-year term loan; and a $450 million...

Wachovia Providing DIP For Winn-Dixie.(debtor-in-possession)
February 28, 2005... Wachovia Securities is set to provide an $800 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan for Winn-Dixie Stores and 23 of its US subsidiaries. The company filed for Chapter 11 on February 21. The DIP financing will replace Winn-Dixie's existing...

Merrill Fund Goes Public.(Diversified Income Strategies Portfolio )(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) announced that the initial public offering of its Diversified Income Strategies Portfolio raised $254 million in proceeds, assuming full exercise of the underwriters' over allotment option. The fund,...

Ratings Movers: Exide's Recovery Up/Winn-Dixie Down On Ch. 11.
February 28, 2005... Upgrades were far and few between last week, although Exide Technologies did see the recovery rating on its bank debt upgraded to "1" from "3" by Standard & Poor's. However, not all news was good news from the rating agency, which, at the same...