Bank Loan Report articles from June 2004

Bank Loan Report archives from June 2004

Investors Winning Battle With Sponsors For Deal Concessions.
June 7, 2004... Despite a recent string of aggressive bank deals in the market, investors have stood firm in the fight with sponsors over more appealing deal terms. Some sponsors have tried to call investors bluffs, initially refusing to make changes on credit...

Loans Appeal Spurs More Funds, CLOs.(collateralized loan obligations)
June 7, 2004... Although the potential rise in interest rates has placed a damper on most asset classes, the syndicated loans world has not lost its appeal. Instead, loans have probably been one of the most attractive asset classes around this year. This is...

European Cos Lean On US For Debt.
June 7, 2004... Alternative financing and investing solutions have been the name of the game in the US loan market over the past few quarters, as investors and arrangers continue to look for more business in the supply-starved marketplace. One increasingly...

Rockwood Specialties Jumbo Deal To Hit Retail Syndication.
June 7, 2004... Credit Suisse First Boston, UBS and Goldman Sachs are expected to launch retail syndication of a $1.85 billion financing for Rockwood Specialties Group this week. The deal, which will, in part, back Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.s (KKR) and CSFB...

Texas Pacific Group In Market With IASIS.(IASIS Healthcare Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) is busy in the market lately the firm came to market last week with a deal backing the buyout of IASIS Healthcare Corp. and it is also planning to acquire, with other investors, German company...

..While Grohe Deal Still To Come.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... As TPG has the ball rolling on its buyout of IASIS, the firm is also looking ahead to its $1.84 billion ballpark acquisition of German plumbing fixture company, Grohe. TPG is buying the company with co-acquirer CSFB from BC Partners, a European...

Bedard To Head Up Fund Services At Morgan Stanley Investment Management.(Edward Bedard)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) announced last week that it has hired Edward Bedard as managing director and global head of fund services. Bedard was previously at Banc of America Capital Management acting as chief...

Moodys Adopts Monte Carlo Approach For Synthetic CDOs.(Moodys Investors Service, synthetic collateralized debt obligations)
June 7, 2004... Moodys Investors Service announced that it has modified its approach for rating synthetic collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), moving to Monte Carlo simulation-based models from binomial approaches. In many circles, particularly Europe, the...

Boyd Gaming Scores With Cheap Financing For Merger.
June 7, 2004... Early this year, Boyd Gaming Corp. decided it was time to raise the ante. But placing its bet to become a bigger player in Vegas buying one casino as well as another entire casino company meant coming up with a cool $2 billion. Thanks to a...

LSTA Makes Primary Market Practices Official.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association)
June 7, 2004... Supporting its drive to foster growth and stability in the syndicated bank loan market, The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) officially approved a series of Primary Market Practices late last month. The practices are a set of...

New Leveraged Loan Team At Hartford Planning More CLOs.(Appointments)
June 14, 2004... Hartford Investment Management, the asset management division of The Hartford Financial Services Group, has hit the ground running with its new leveraged loan team. Already successfully managing other fixed income products, the Hartford-based...

Hedge Funds Invade Loan World.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... The mere mention of hedge funds sends a frisson down the backs of investors in any asset class. Murky, secretive entities, notorious for wreaking havoc on financial markets with their dramatic exits and entries, other investors put their guard...

Offshore Investors Face Legal Setbacks.
June 14, 2004... As ever-more offshore investors enter the US leveraged loan arena, market players have increasingly faced inconsistent standards when it comes to policing offshore investors' lending procedures in correlation with their tax obligations. With...

Another Satellite M&A Deal To Enter Market, More Expected.
June 14, 2004... After losing its bid for PanAmSat Corp. to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. during a competitive bidding process earlier this year, the Blackstone Group decided to concentrate on picking up another satellite operator instead - Netherlands-based...

Bank Trio Preps Horizon Lines Sponsor-To-Sponsor Buyout Deal.
June 14, 2004... UBS, Goldman and ABN Amro have been mandated to lead a $275 million credit facility to back Castle Harlan's $650 million purchase of Horizon Lines from The Carlyle Group. The credit, which will launch syndication this week, includes a $250...

Bank Duo Shops MedCath Refinancing.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Wachovia Securities and Bank of America are in the market with a $200 million credit facility for MedCath Corp., an owner and operator of cardiology and cardiovascular service-providing hospitals. The refinancing deal includes a $100 million,...

Pierre Foods LBO Line Launches Syndication.(leveraged buyout )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Wachovia and BofA also teamed up last week to launch syndication of a $190 million credit to back the leveraged buyout (LBO) of Pierre Foods by Madison Dearborn Partners. The credit, which hit the market last Thursday, includes a $150 million,...

Manna Joins BNP Paribas' Leveraged Finance Team.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Geoffrey Manna, a former director and team leader in CSFB's US financial sponsors group, has joined BNP Paribas' leveraged finance team as a managing director. Manna will report to Kathryn Swintek, head of BNP Paribas' US leveraged finance...

Esselte Looks To Europe To Refinance Mezz/Senior Debt.(Interview)
June 14, 2004... Back in early May, Esselte, the world's leading manufacturer of office supplies, announced the successful completion of a 150 million private bond offering. Demand for the bond offering was strong enough to enable the company to upsize by 20...

BNP Paribas To Boost US Large Cap Sponsor Relationships.
June 21, 2004... Using its banking might in Europe and its established European large cap financial sponsor relationships as a springboard, BNP Paribas plans to build even more large cap financial sponsor relationships in the US. The arrival earlier this month...

Liquid Loans Beat 2003's Trading Record.
June 21, 2004... There was a time not too long ago when the only loans trading in the secondary market were huge issues for such well-known companies as Allied Waste or other bellwethers of the chemicals industry. Today, all that has changed, and looking at...

MGM Goes With Debt, Not M&A Veterans.(Mergers and Acquisitions)
June 21, 2004... MGM Mirage Inc.'s successful $7.9 billion bid to acquire Mandalay Resort Group is also a big win for several investment banks that heretofore have run bond and loan deals for MGM, according to BLR's sister publication IDD. The gaming company...

BofA To Shop United Industries/United Pet Acquisition Deal.(United Pet Group )(Nu-Gro Corp.)
June 21, 2004... Bank of America and sponsor Thomas H. Lee Partners are set to provide the debt and equity financing behind United Industries Corp.'s planned acquisition of United Pet Group for $360 million. Executive Vice President and CFO of United...

Atmos' Jumbo Purchase Of TXU Gas Could Push Ratings Down.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Atmos Energy Corp.'s debt ratings could take a dive in the near future. All three ratings agencies put the company's investment grade debt ratings on watch for downgrade following its announcement last Thursday that it would acquire TXU Gas...

Rent-A-Center Plans New Refinancing Credit.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Rent-A-Center, the largest rent-to-own company in the US, said it plans to shop a new $600 million credit facility. Proceeds from the deal will go toward general corporate purposes, as well as to refinance the $600 million credit the company...

AEG Partners Appoints Two New Senior Directors.
June 21, 2004... AEG Partners, a strategic advisory firm to distressed middle market companies that, among other things, provides restructuring advisory services for senior debt, subordinated debt and equity investment positions, has appointed two new senior...

JP Morgan CDO Biz Teams Up With LoanX.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... JP Morgan's Institutional Trust Services' collateralized debt obligation (CDO) business has collaborated with Mark-it Partners, a London-based credit pricing information company, and its LoanX loan pricing platform, in order to offer an...

Fitch Risk/BvDEP In Full Swing With FACT-CRS Platform.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Fitch Risk, an affiliate of Fitch Ratings, and Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing (BvDEP), a European publisher of electronic business information, have teamed up to offer a new credit platform called FACT-CRS. FACT-CRS is a product...

More LBO/M&A Activity Is On The Horizon.(growth in leveraged buyout and merger and acquisitons influence initial public offerings)
June 21, 2004... Refinancings may have driven high yield new issue volume for the past 18 months, but much of the new issuance in the near to intermediate future will come from merger and acquisition and leveraged buyout (LBO) activity, which is beginning to...

Loan Market Risk Tolerance Is On The Rise.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Last year experienced an unprecedented bull market, with loan returns at over 10%. The underlying fundamentals, such as earnings and default rates, have improved, technicals remain robust, spreads have tightened to pre-Russian debt default...

Is There Too Much Leverage In European CLOs ?(collateralized loan obligations)
June 21, 2004... While European collateralized loan obligations (CLO) managers have suffered less from tightening collateral spreads than their US counterparts, some market players are noting a trend of borrowers in the European loan market becoming...