Bank Loan Report articles from January 2004

Bank Loan Report archives from January 2004

Outlook 04: Still Tough On Investors, But Bankers Smiling More.
January 5, 2004... Despite expectations for a sizeable deal pipeline in the first quarter of 2004, many loan market players aren't holding their breath for market dynamics to improve much for institutional investors. Instead, barring a major unforeseen event,...

Solutia To Recieve DIP, Pending Approval.(debtor-in-possession financing)(BCP Crystal Acquisition GmbH & Co.)
January 5, 2004... In conjunction with filing for bankruptcy last month, Solutia received a $500 million commitment, pending court approval, for debtor-in-possession financing to support its operations during the Chapter 11 process. The DIP credit line, which is...

LSTA Seeks To Conform Syndicated Loans.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association )
January 5, 2004... Does the Loan Syndications and Trading Association aspire to become the Fannie Mae of the commercial loan world? Not exactly. But over the holidays the corporate loan market trade association placed on its Web site the fruits of its efforts...

LoanX And Mark-It Create Broader Credit Data Platform.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... A leading US provider of syndicated loan data, LoanX, Inc., is being acquired by Mark-it Partners Ltd. , the definitive credit pricing information company. The merger of the two companies should come as great news to credit investors, as it...

GE CFS Turns to Europe for Distressed Debt Opportunities.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... In a move that indicates growing US investor interest in European bank debt, GE Corporate Financial Services (GE CFS) Bank Loan Group, a division that traditionally invests in US par and distressed debt and buys portfolios, is planning to...

Shaffer: PNC Expands Middle Market Focus.
January 12, 2004... PNC Financial Services Group is not going to be everything to everyone, but the firm intensely focuses on what it does well. That means being a dominant middle market bank, said Douglas Shaffer, senior managing director of PNC Capital Markets....

Top Banks Lose Share in Stagnant Market.
January 12, 2004... The top three arranger banks lost some of their market share in 2003, according to Thomson Financial, revealing how growing competition among credit hungry banks for the coveted administrative agent role may be challenging the top powerhouse...

Allegheny Likely to Test Lenders Mettle, Again.
January 12, 2004... With one of last years largest rescue financings, Allegheny Energy may return to the bank market soon, providing a New Years test for how willing lenders continue to accept slashed pricing and weaker covenants. The troubled energy company...

Credit Trends: Late 1990s Dj vu?
January 12, 2004... Credit quality improved in 2003 over the year before, but a dramatic increase in new B-rated loans may portend the next generation of problem credits. Moodys Investors Services ratings changes trended positively for borrowers in 2003...

CUSIPs Extended to Loan Market After Years of Planning.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association )
January 12, 2004... The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) and Standard & Poors announced last week that the long-awaited project to extend the CUSIPs numbering system to the syndicated loan market has finally been completed. The effort, first...

ING Planning New CLO That Includes Distressed Basket.
January 19, 2004... ING Capital Advisors, an investment advisor that specializes in managing floating rate senior secured loan portfolios and high yield bonds, has been talking to underwriters and plans to launch a new collateralized loan obligation (CLO) by the...

Challenged Centennial Seeks Refi.
January 19, 2004... Easing near-term cash demands, Centennial Communications is hitting the market with a $1 billion refinancing package, which includes a $750 million credit facility scheduled to launch syndication Jan. 20. Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman...

Back Bay: Junior Secured Backs Growth.(Back Bay Capital )
January 19, 2004... Many of last year's so-called rescue financings saved borrowers from bankruptcy by bringing together an assortment of hedge funds and other nontraditional lenders to provide funding when their banks declined. The deals were often made possible...

ABRY Partners' Atlantic Broadband Connects With Market.
January 19, 2004... Merrill Lynch and Societe Generale launched syndication of a $395 million credit for Atlantic Broadband Finance, and despite the company's B2 rating and five times senior debt-to-Ebitda leverage, the deal's $275 million B loan was...

UBS, Bear Stearns, Wachovia Shop CPI Debt Package.(Communications and Power Industries )(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... UBS and Bear Stearns are moving along through the debt markets to complete the $255 million financing package for The Cypress Group's LBO of Communications and Power Industries (CPI) from Leonard Green & Partners. Investors heavily...

Plastech Launches First and Second Lien Facilities.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... Goldman Sachs began pitching a $100 million second lien term loan last week that supports Plastech Engineered Products' acquisition of a rival plastics supplier, LDM Technologies, a banker said. The fully underwritten loan accompanies a...

SBA Communications Refi Hits the Market with Bank and HY Debt.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank held a bank meeting last Tuesday to launch syndication of SBA Communications' $350 million refinancing facility. The credit, which is being issued through the company's SBA Senior Finance subsidiary, is...

UBS and RBS Bolster Loan Sales and Project Finance Desks.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... Leaving Goldman Sachs last July, Edward Kearns has resurfaced as a director in the loan sales team at UBS. Kearns, who worked at Goldman for about 16 years, was formerly the head of Goldman's loan sales unit. He started work Jan. 12 in UBS'...

CDO Exposure To Parmalat Continues To Unfold.(collateralized debt obligation)(Tullas)
January 19, 2004... The mess Parmalat has spilled across the capital markets continued last week. Fitch Ratings downgraded the Tullas CDO, largely because of its exposure to the Italian milk maker. The CDO, however, is not suffering alone, as the rating agency has...

TBMA Redesigns Trustee Reports, But Will Market Adopt A New Format?(The Bond Market Association )(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... A new standardized CDO trustee report could make life a bit easier for investors before the end of the first quarter. The trick is getting market participants to utilize it. The Bond Market Association just released its final draft of a...

One CDO Accounting Issue Closed, Another Looms.(collateralized debt obligation)
January 19, 2004... Concerns about a modified version of new accounting guidelines requiring collateralized debt obligation (CDO) managers to consolidate more of those assets on their balance sheets were resolved at year-end, but another soon-to-be-addressed issue...

Key Bank Sheds Loan Exposure, Sells Portfolio to Goldman.
January 26, 2004... Investors scratched their heads earlier this month, wondering where a loan portfolio managed by Key Bank had gone, and news emerged last week that Key had sold the portfolio to Goldman Sachs, according to market sources. The size of the...

Credit-Linked Structure May Hide Risks.
January 26, 2004... The stench of Enron's accounting games may still be in the air, this time wafting through the credit-linked notes (CLN) market - a warning to investors not only in those complicated financial instruments but also in more plain-vanilla loans and...

Healey: Leveraged Debt Hedge Fund Soon.(Picus Capital)
January 26, 2004... Absorbing oneself in a good story is one of the best ways to pass the time, they say. And that is exactly what Bill Healey, CEO of Picus Capital has decided to do. That's because "story credits" are precisely the type of investments that Healey...

Overseas Competition Forces BMC to Mull Financing Options.
January 26, 2004... Five bank waivers later, facing unrelenting competition from Pacific Rim suppliers, BMC Industries is scouting options to resolve its financial and strategic challenges over the next two months, before its bankers come calling again. The...

Wellman Deal To Simplify Capital Structure.
January 26, 2004... Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase launched syndication of a $600 million refinancing facility on Jan. 21 for Wellman, a manufacturer and marketer of polyester-based fiber and PET resins. The deal includes a five-year, $175 million revolver, a...

Susquehanna Media Tunes In For Refi.
January 26, 2004... Wachovia Securities plans to launch syndication this week of a $450 million credit for Susquehanna Media. The deal will be used to refinance the York, Penn.-based company's existing bank credit and to finance acquisitions, including the $120...

UBS Shops Nellson and ILC Dividend Deals.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... UBS was in the market last week with two dividend deals, as issuers continue to take advantage of debt-starved institutional investors. An add-on $100 million second lien piece for Nellson Nutraceutical blew out in syndication after its...

Correction.(Lisa Filomia-Aktas)(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
January 26, 2004... Lisa Filomia-Aktas's name was misspelled in an article on P. 12 of last week's BLR about Ernst & Young's interpretation of new CDO accounting guidelines.

Commerce Bank Kicks Off Broader Debt Distribution Effort.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Seeing its corporate customers grow and require ever-larger loans, Commerce Bank has recently taken steps to expand distribution of the corporate loans it originates and has hired staff to facilitate the effort. Bob Falese, EVP and senior...

RBS Greenwich Puts Finishing Touches on CDO Group.(collateralized debt obligations )
January 26, 2004... With six collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) under its belt and the team complete, RBS Greenwich Capital is looking to grow into a powerhouse within the CDO sector in 2004. Although the focus of the RBS Greenwich team will remain on its...

Fitch Launches New Model to Forecast Defaults Over Time.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Fitch Ratings' CreditVantage has launched its new probability of default (PD) tool, the CRS Corporate PD Model. The tool is designed to assess default probabilities over time and is unique in that the drivers shift according to the time period...

FIN 46 May Slash CDO Issuance.(collateralized debt obligation )
January 26, 2004... While the securitization accounting community sighed with relief at the revision to Financial Interpretation No. 46 (FIN 46), plenty of gripes are still echoing through the market. Last week, for example, researchers from Banc One Capital...