Bank Loan Report articles from February 2007

Bank Loan Report archives from February 2007

Delta Flying Solo With New Exit Facility?(Delta Air Lines' Bankruptcy reorganization)(GE Capital; American Express)
February 5, 2007... Delta Air Lines in on the runway and awaiting the signal for takeoff from bankruptcy. The carrier announced last Tuesday that is had secured a $2.5 billion credit facility for its exit plan for spring 2007, and the Official Creditors Committee...

Junk Credit Weakens On Lack Of Covenants.
February 5, 2007... There was a time when a leveraged loan from a poorer quality company needed strict covenant guidelines for investors to buy in. But a voracious appetite for paper has loan investors taking their covenants lightly, according to a recent report...

SocGen Sharpens Focus On Lev Finance.(Societe Generale Banka A.S.)(leverage finance)
February 5, 2007... Societe Generale is the latest European Bank to ramp up and reorganize in an effort to sharpen its focus on leverage finance. The firm recently announced the creation of a new division, the Capital Raising and Financing Division, which includes...

JPM Offers Trans-Atlantic Debt Solution For Infor.(Infor Global Solutions)(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... JPMorgan was gearing up last week to launch a new debt package for Infor Global Solutions, planning to hit London Friday for European investors and move on to New York today for U.S. investors. While the company's existing $2.34 billion first...

JPM Launches Reader's LBO.(Reader's Digest Association)(Leveraged Buy Out)(Ripplewood Holdings LLC)
February 5, 2007... JPMorgan is also in the market with a $1.46 billion credit facility for the Reader's Digest Association. The new debt package, which launched last Wednesday, consists of a $300 million revolver and a $1.16 billion term loan B. Pricing is at...

GS Launches Simmons Holdco.(The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Goldman Sachs is in the market with a $275 million unsecured holdco toggle loan for Simmons Co. that launched last Thursday. Though pricing was not available as of press time, it was expected to be between Libor plus 600 bps and Libor plus 650...

CS Soaks Market With Jacuzzi Debt.(Credit Suisse Group)(Jacuzzi Brands)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Credit Suisse is shopping a $135 million term loan B, a $15 million synthetic letter of credit and a $185 million second lien term loan for Jacuzzi Corp. The new debt package will be used to fund the buyout of the Jacuzzi Brands bath segment by...

Lehman Heads Up CineMedia IPO.
February 5, 2007... Lead arranger Lehman Brothers, along with JPMorgan, is in the market with an $805 million credit facility for National CineMedia. The new debt package consists of an $80 million revolver and a $725 million term loan B. Pricing is at Libor plus...

Bank Group Reprices HCA Term Loan.(Citigroup Inc.; Merrill Lynch and Company Inc.; Bank of America Corp.)
February 5, 2007... JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch launched a repricing on HCA's term loan debt last Tuesday. The company's $2.75 billion term loan A repriced from Libor plus 250 bps to Libor plus 225 bps, the $8.8 billion term loan B...

JPM Reprices SunGard.
February 5, 2007... Also repricing last week was SunGard Data Systems, which was scheduled to reprice its term loan with sole lead arranger JPMorgan Friday. The company's $4 billion term loan will be tightened from Libor plus 250 bps to Libor plus 200 bps. ...

JPM Tightens Insight Credit.
February 5, 2007... Insight Midwest is also in the market with a repricing that launched last Thursday. The $1.8 billion term loan B arranged by JPMorgan and Bank of America will tighten to Libor plus 200 bps from Libor plus 225 bps. Moody's and S&P currently rate...

Hertz Seeks To Amend.(The Hertz Corp.)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Hertz Global Holdings announced that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary The Hertz Corp. is seeking to amend its term loan and asset-based revolver, arranged by GE Capital. The proposed amendments would lower both the asset-based revolver and...

BofA Amends To Extend For Longs.(Bank of America)(Longs Drug Stores Corp.)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Longs Drug Stores Corp. announced that it has amended its revolver arranged by Bank of America. The five-year revolver will now expire in January 2012, and it will be used to finance working capital needs and capital expenditures as well as...

UBS Taps Gallagher For MD.(Mark Gallagher)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... UBS continued to invest in its leveraged finance business last week, as a spokesman for the bank confirmed that Mark Gallagher has been hired as a managing director in its financial sponsors group. In his new role at UBS, he will report to...

Bank Of Ireland Prunes Leveraged Finance Team.(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking recently announced that members of its London-based leveraged finance team have left the group, and a number of senior acquisition bankers have been recruited to move the bank toward larger U.K.-focused lead...

Oil & Gas Companies Keep Pumping New Issues.
February 5, 2007... Though this year promises to be a tougher environment for oil and gas companies, with rising costs and lower prices slimming down their margins, the market will likely be a stable place for debt investors to put their abundant capital. Steady...

Ratings Movers: Kyphon Up On Repayment, Dole Debt Not In Season.
February 5, 2007... Kyphon's ratings rose last week, when Standard & Poor's upgraded its $300 million revolver and $115 million term loan to BB- from B+. The upgrade is the result of Kyphon's issuance of $350 million of senior unsecured, unrated convertible notes...

LBO Players Largely Spurning Airline Opportunity.(Leveraged buyouts)
February 5, 2007... Private equity investors have bailed out the airlines before - a fact that has many marketwatchers waiting to see how they're going to repeat the trick this time around. Already rumors are swirling that financial sponsors could stanch the...

European CLO Downturn On The Horizon.(Collateralized loan obligations)
February 5, 2007... Do you know who your manager is? When the leveraged loan market starts to see defaults you better. It seems easy to get caught up in the leveraged finance bonanza of late, and CLO managers have done just that. According to figures reported...

MacDermid Mixing Up New $925 Million Debt Potion.
February 12, 2007... The specialty chemical sector is attractive to debt investors as well as private equity and strategic buyers. While the companies vary, they are generally operationally sound, with consistent cash flows and steady demand. The credit ratings of...

Call Of The Mild: Call Premiums Not So Hot.
February 12, 2007... In the issuer-friendly market of late, investors have had little leverage against tightening spreads. And the current surge of repricings is further proof that sellers are still at an advantage. However, along with the repricings, issuers are...

Credit Suisse's Amine Leads Through Innovation.(James Amine)(Interview)
February 12, 2007... Not many people know that James Amine, Credit Suisse's London-based co-head of global leveraged finance, started his professional life as an attorney. "I spent five years at a law firm in New York, working on a lot of hostile takeover...

Historic LBO Deal Seeks $32 Billion In Debt.
February 12, 2007... Making history in the leveraged buyout market, the Blackstone Group won its bid for Chicago-based real estate developer Equity Office Properties Trust last Wednesday night. The $39 billion buyout is the largest in history, and with $16 billion...

Kelson Intends To Refinance With Merrill.(Kelson Holdings)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... Kelson Holdings, a wholly owned company of Harbinger Capital Partners, is gearing up to launch a $1.7 billion credit facility with Merrill Lynch. The new debt package consists of a six-year $50 million revolver, a six-year $990 million term...

JPM Bangs Out Domtar Paper.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... JPMorgan is in the market with a five-year $750 million revolver and seven-year $800 million term loan B for Domtar, which launched last Thursday. Pricing on both tranches is at Libor plus 175 bps. Sale of the debt is expected to go extremely...

BofA Shops Brock.(Bank of America Corp.)(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(The Brock Group )(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... Bank Of America and JPMorgan are in the market with a $485 million debt package for The Brock Group, which launched last Tuesday. The debt package consists of a $60 million revolver and a $425 million term loan B. Pricing is at Libor plus 250...

JPM Packages SCA Buyout.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(SCA's acquisition of Metalmark Capital )
February 12, 2007... JPMorgan is in the market with a $55 million revolver, a $205 million term loan B and an $85 million second lien term loan for SCA's North American packaging operations. The deal launched last Tuesday, and pricing is at Libor plus 250 bps on...

BofA Launches Giant Acquisition.(Bank of America acquired with Giant Industries)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... Bank of America is in the market with a seven-year $1.4 billion term loan B for Western Refining Co., LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Refining. Proceeds will be used to fund the company's $1.5 billion acquisition of Giant Industries,...

Root Acquires LeadROI.(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... Root Markets, which operates Root Exchange and Root Publisher, two technology platforms that offer electronic lead trading systems, has acquired LeadROI, which provides services to sell and close loans including credit reports, pricing and...

Babson Closes Court on Seventh Duchess Series CLO.(Collateralized loan obligations)(Babson Capital Europe)
February 12, 2007... Babson Capital Europe announced the close of the 500 million Duchess VII CLO last week, a regally named fund arranged appropriately enough by Royal Bank of Scotland. Duchess VII ancestry dates back to 2001, when the series began as a sister...

Ratings Movers: CCA Locks Up Ratings Upgrade, HLI Driven Down On Production.
February 12, 2007... Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) received a verdict on its debt last week when Moody's Investors Service upgraded the company's $125 million revolver and $140 million term loan C. The ratings agency found the private corrections...

Blackstone Chows Down On Pinnacle Foods.(The Blackstone Group to acquire Pinnacle Foods Group)
February 19, 2007... Private equity titan The Blackstone Group has been chomping its way through the corporate credit market and issuing new debt to fund its splurge at the buyout buffet. And this time, the group has a craving for Aunt Jemima and Duncan Hines,...

All Bets Are On For Harrah's Deal.
February 19, 2007... The stakes are high for Harrah's Entertainment, but with no other offers on the table and a credit structure in the works, it looks as if the buyout of the casino company by Apollo Management LLC and Texas Pacific Group is in the cards. This...

Execs Form Six Degrees From BMO Separation.(BMO Capital Markets)(Kevin Gibbons, Scott Franklin, Matt Peters, Bill Barbino, Tony Harris, plus Courtney, Sam Midanek)
February 19, 2007... Hoping to capitalize on the various structured finance growth opportunities beyond securitization, eight ABS senior executives have left BMO Capital Markets to launch Six Degrees Capital Management (SDCM). The Chicago-based company, which...

Bear Stearns Markets Communications Buyout.
February 19, 2007... Bear Stearns is shopping a $120 million revolver, a $540 million term loan and a $160 million delayed-draw term loan for Valassis Communications. Proceeds will be used to fund the $1.2 billion acquisition of ADVO, including approximately $125...

Bank Duo Amends $435 Million Atlantic Term Loan.(Merrill Lynch and Company Inc.; Credit Suisse Group)(Atlantic Broadband Finance L.L.C.)
February 19, 2007... Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are increasing Atlantic Broadband Finance's term loan B to $435 million from $325 million. The company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Broadband Group, LLC, is also loosening the financial...

JPM And Citi Broadcast OneLink Holdco Debt.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.; Citigroup Inc.)(OneLink Communications)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Lead arranger JPMorgan, along with Citigroup, is shopping a $100 million senior unsecured holdco term loan for OneLink Communications, which launched last Tuesday. Pricing is at Libor plus 650 bps with 102, 101 call premiums. Proceeds will be...

JPM Filters DaVita Reprice Through Market.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... JPMorgan launched a repricing for DaVita's senior secured credit facility last Monday. The $350 million term loan A and $2.45 billion term loan B are being tightened to Libor plus 175 bps with a 101 soft call premium from Libor plus 225 bps....

Bank Duo Amends OTC Pricing.
February 19, 2007... Wachovia and JPMorgan are in the market with a repricing for Oriental Trading Co. While the $50 million revolver will stay put at Libor plus 250 bps, the $408 million term loan B will tighten to Libor plus 225 bps with a 101 call premium from...

JPM Tightens Windstream.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. )(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... JPM also launched a repricing for Windstream Corp. last Monday. The company's $1.9 billion term loan B is being taken down 25 bps to Libor plus 150 bps from Libor plus 175 bps. The company announced that it will offer $500 million in senior...

Babson Shines Up Sapphire Hybrid CDO.(Babson Capital Management LLC)(Sapphire Valley CDO Ltd.)(Collateralized debt obligations)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Babson Capital Management LLC closed a $600 million CDO last week. The Sapphire Valley CDO, Ltd. portfolio consists of approximately 80% leveraged loans and 20% securities. Of the 20% securities, 40% are expected to be sourced synthetically...

CORRECTION.(Correction notice)
February 19, 2007... In the Feb. 12 issue of BLR, Babson Capital Europe's total amount under management -- including eight CLO funds, one mezzanine fund, one credit opportunities fund, one managed account and two warehouses -- was incorrect. It is E5.4 billion. We...

Mixed Messages on Equity Office Properties.(Blackstone Group L.P.'s acquisition of Equity Office Properties Trust)(Statistical data)
February 19, 2007... Following its buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, The Blackstone Group reportedly sold off $14.6 billion of the REIT's holdings. Under the logical assumption that those proceeds would be used to pay down the original $32 billion in debt...

Ratings Movers: DaVita Up On Acquisition, Xerium Down On Production.
February 19, 2007... Dialysis provider DaVita was in good health last week, when Moody's Investors Service upgraded the company's $1.7 billion term loan B, $280 million term loan A and $250 million revolver to Ba1 from Ba2, and Standard & Poor's upgraded the same...

Europe Awaits Billion Euro Deal From Tata Steel.(TATA Steel's acquisition of Corus Group PLC)
February 26, 2007... The acquisition of a British steel company by an Indian rival could bring billions of new debt to the European market. Investors are waiting for word on the structure of the deal, which could price this summer. Existing bondholders, pension...

Breathing Dragon? Asia's CDO Potential.(Collateralized debt obligations)
February 26, 2007... Los Angeles-based asset management firm Trust Company of the West - the world's largest CDO manager - is preparing to become a classroom of sorts. In the coming months, TCW will open its doors to a group of Chinese investors interested in...

Q&A: The Lending Landscape.(Tom Quindlen- GE Commercial Finance )(Interview)
February 26, 2007... Less than a year has passed since GE Commercial Finance expanded its corporate lending business, and already the group is seeing tangible results. Last April, it brought its corporate asset-based lending, cash-flow lending and structured...

Refis And Repricings Dominate Market, Goldman Debuts Movie Gallery.(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... The loan market saw a number of repricings and refinancings kicked off last week, continuing a trend that has been on the rise since the beginning of 2007. Goldman Sachs is in the market with a $900 million senior secured credit facility...

Lehman Dials Into Market With Cellular Refi.(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.)(American Cellular Corp.)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 26, 2007... Lehman Brothers is shopping an $850 million senior secured credit facility for American Cellular Corp., a wholly- owned subsidiary of Dobson Communications Corp. The debt package, which launched last Tuesday, consists of a five-year $75 million...

HealthSouth Reprices With Bank Group.
February 26, 2007... HealthSouth Corp. is seeking to tighten pricing on its senior secured credit facilities arranged by Citigroup, JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch. The company launched a repricing last Thursday on its term loan B, which has an outstanding balance of...

Deutsche And JPM Amend Tenneco Pricing.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. )(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 26, 2007... Tenneco is looking to tighten its $350 million term loan, which would drop to Libor plus 175 bps from Libor plus 200 bps. The company also currently has a $285 million revolver priced at Libor plus 225 bps and a $170 million letter of credit...

Bank Duo Tightens SS&C Tech.
February 26, 2007... SS&C Technologies returned to the market last Tuesday with a repricing on its $200 million term loan, arranged by JPMorgan and Wachovia. The debt would be taken down to Libor plus 200 bps from Libor plus 250 bps. The company also currently has...

RBC Adds To U.S. I-Banking.(RBC Capital Markets appointed Thomas Tullo, G. Torrey Rossetter, Robert Sarlls)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... RBC Capital Markets is bulking up its U.S. global investment banking divisions with the addition of three new groups, including an industrial and diversified services group, a food and beverage segment within its consumer group and an expanded...

Achour To Head SG Capital Markets.(Societe Generale appointed Arnaud Achour )(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... Societe Generale announced last week that Arnaud Achour has been named head of capital markets and syndication for the Americas. He will be responsible for overseeing the bank's regional activity in equity and debt capital markets, strategic &...

ABN Amro Combines Origination Under Nawas.(Mike Nawas)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... ABN Amro has merged its origination team into one group under the title structured finance. The new team will be run by Mike Nawas and will be responsible for structured capital, asset-backed securities, cross-border finance and the origination...

Kamlet Shepherd Taps Berdan For Corporate Finance.(Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert appointed Scott Berdan )(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... Denver-based Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert has hired Scott Berdan as a partner to head the firm's securities and corporate finance practice and to expand its M&A and private equity coverage. Berdan will focus on corporate finance and...

LSTA Heats Up Loan Market With Fiery Trading Session.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association)(Conference news)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... The Loan Syndications and Trading Association's recent educational conference in New York was hot - literally. The two-day conference, held on Feb. 15 and 16 at The Roosevelt Hotel, ended in a blaze when fire broke out on the second floor of...

Kinder Morgan: Kinder Than Your Average Buyout.(Statistical data)
February 26, 2007... Built from natural gas assets of the ill-fated Enron Corp., Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) has grown into one of the largest energy suppliers in North America. The Houston-based company owns or operates approximately 43,000 miles of oil and natural...

SunTrust Loses CDO Team In Face Of Big Plans.(James Bennison left SunTrust Robinson Humphrey)
February 26, 2007... SunTrust Robinson Humphrey's CDO team has left the company, despite the firm's plans for growth in the sector in 2007 and a media push to promote it. The Atlanta-based bank lost 13 members of its CDO team, including its head James Bennison, who...

Come Clean, Market Says On CDO Transparency.(Collateralized debt obligations)(Conference news)
February 26, 2007... As the number of commercial real estate CDO transactions increases, both analysts and investors are calling for improved surveillance in a market that still lacks transparency, according to speakers at the Information Management Network's...

Ratings Movers: Level 3 Up On Operations, Furniture Brands Damaged On Broyhill.
February 26, 2007... Internet communication provider Level 3 Communications was operating at high speed last week, when Standard & Poor's upgraded a $730 million term loan issued by the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Level 3 Financing. The debt was bumped up a...