Bank Loan Report articles from March 2005

Bank Loan Report archives from March 2005

Look How Much You've Grown, Leveraged Loan Market.
March 7, 2005... The institutional US leveraged loan market - which began to truly take shape in the 1990s - is now all grown up, so much so that it is acting just like any other market. However, this higher level of maturity brings about new challenges for...

Quality Is Key For AEFC's CDO Group.(American Express Financial Corp)
March 7, 2005... American Express Financial Corp. (AEFC) is prepping for a major organizational change this year, as the firm is scheduled to be officially spun off from its parent in the third quarter 2005. But although AEFC may be obtaining a new name and a...

Relationship Banks Still King In Canada.
March 7, 2005... The traditional lending relationship between corporate clients and their banks, now but a distant memory in the US, is still a reality across the border in Canada. There, companies in the subinvestment grade arena have none of the myriad...

Bank Trio To Lead Chiquita Deal To Support Fresh Express Buy.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Chiquita Brands International is looking to complete a $925 million facility in connection with its acquisition of the Fresh Express unit of Richmond, Va.-based Performance Food Group Company. The deal is being arranged via leads Wachovia...

Scotia Capital To Pitch Masonite.
March 7, 2005... A bank meeting is slated for today to launch a new credit facility for Stile US Acquisition Corp. and Stile Acquisition Corp. (Stile), which will become co-parents of Masonite International Corp. upon completion of the leveraged buyout (LBO) by...

MGM Buyout Bank Meeting Next Week.(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... A bank meeting is slated for March 15 to launch syndication of a $4 billion deal in connection with the LBO of Los Angeles-based movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM). Last year, MGM entered into an agreement to be acquired by LOC...

Bank Duo Launches Resorts International.
March 7, 2005... A bank meeting was held last Thursday to launch syndication of a $1.06 billion credit facility for Atlantic City, N.J.-based Resorts International Hotel and Casino. The facility includes a $75 million, five-year revolver; a $400 million,...

Goldman Shops DTN.(The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)(Data Transmission Network Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Last week, sole lead Goldman Sachs launched syndication of a $175 million credit facility for Data Transmission Network Corp. (DTN). The deal includes a $20 million, five-year revolver and a $155 million, seven-year term loan. Price talk for...

Hunter Fan Seeks Refi.(Hunter Fan Co.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Hunter Fan Company hit the market last week for a $200 million refinancing credit facility. The deal includes a $50 million, five-year revolver and a $150 million, six-year term loan B. JP Morgan is the sole lead. Pricing for the deal,...

BofA Appoints Leet As Int'l Head, Lee As Head Trader.(BankAmerica Corp., Kenneth Leet, Jerry Lee .)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Longtime Goldman Sachs banker Kenneth Leet has been hired by Bank of America to be managing director and head of corporate and investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Leet, who is based in London, reports to William Fall,...

Morgan Joseph Opens Offices in LA, Chicago.(Morgan Joseph and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... As part of an effort to expand its national presence, Morgan Joseph & Co. Inc. opened new offices in Los Angeles and Chicago last week. Currently, both offices are staffed with two managing directors. Paul Huffman III, who previously worked in...

Hanabergh Named MD At GE CF.(Gerard Hanabergh, GE Commercial Finance.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending (GE CF) announced last week that Gerard Hanabergh is now managing director of the business credit group based in Norwalk, Conn. He replaced Andrew Waterson, who was named managing director of corporate...

Dresdner Forms Global Leverage Biz; Appoints Perry To Credit Products.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London announced the creation of a global leverage business last week, which will be a joint venture by the firm's financial sponsors coverage group and the capital markets leveraged finance business. ...

Ratings Movers: Levi Up On Growth/Metaldyne Down On Leverage.
March 7, 2005... It was a good week for Levi Strauss & Co.,which saw its bank debt upgraded by Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service. Moody's upgraded the company's $500 million term loan to B3 from Caa2; S&P upgraded the $650 million revolver to BB-...

Handling Complexities Of Cross-Border Capital, Collateral And Currencies.
March 7, 2005... By Ferrell Coppedge, Southeast/Atlantic division president, Bank of America Business Capital, and Janet Jarrett, principal, Banc of America Securities. As more companies do business globally, the number of cross-border asset-based deals...

Investors Search Diligently For Assets As Allocations Stay Thin.
March 14, 2005... Thanks to the increasing number of institutional investors in the leveraged loan market coupled with an imbalance in loan supply and demand, the size of allocations for syndicated loans has been shrinking for some time. And now, more than ever,...

Telcordia Declares A Debt Deal Do Over'.
March 14, 2005... Telcordia Technologies, Inc. suddenly announced to investors last week that it was canceling allocations and relaunching syndication on its $670 million credit facility and its $300 million bond offering as a result of an anticipated decrease...

Are Euro Construction Firms Foundering?
March 14, 2005... Recent troubles afflicting European construction firms is highlighting to market analysts and bankers a growing and hidden level of risk embedded in building companies throughout the continent. The bankruptcy last month of Germany's...

GoldenTree Ends Long-Only Business, Looks To Real Estate.
March 14, 2005... GoldenTree Asset Management announced last week that, in light of current market conditions, the firm plans to exit the long-only separate account business, and in turn, return $1.2 billion to investors. At the same time, however, the firm is...

April Credit Launch For DaVita.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Sole lead JP Morgan is slated to launch a $3.05 billion deal next month for DaVita Inc. in connection with the company's $3.05 billion acquisition of Gambro Healthcare, according to a source. Earlier this month, the company announced its intent...

Investors Fully Subscribe To Masonite Loan.
March 14, 2005... The much-awaited bank deal in connection with the leveraged buyout (LBO) of Masonite International Corp. hit the market last week. The deal includes a six-year, $350 million multicurrency revolver priced at Libor plus 250 basis points (bps) and...

BAE To Seek $3B Facility For Acquisition.
March 14, 2005... Last week, British defense contractor BAE Systems PLC announced that its North American subsidiary, BAE Systems North America Inc. had reached an agreement to acquire US defense contractor United Defense Industries, Inc. for about $4.2 billion....

BofA To Arrange For Trustreet.(Trustreet Properties Inc. seeking funds from Bank of America Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Trustreet Properties Inc. is seeking a $350 million credit facility that includes a $150 million, three-year revolver and a $200 million, five-year term loan to use for general corporate purposes, according to a Securities and Exchange...

Gilday, Prakke, Lydon Leave Merrill's London Office.(Kevin Lydon, Ian Gilday, and Frits Prakke)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Merrill Lynch's London office is losing a few staff members from its leveraged finance team, as well as distressed trader Kevin Lydon. Those leaving the bank's 45-member leveraged finance team include Ian Gilday, a managing director in the...

Trentos Named SVP At GE CF.(John Trentos appointed at GE Commercial Finance)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Last week, GE Commercial Finance's (GE CF) global sponsor finance and global media and communications divisions jointly announced that John Trentos was named senior vice president, sponsor channel origination. In the newly created position,...

BofA Creates Consolidated Platform In Boston.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... BofA's global wealth and investment management division announced last week the creation of a consolidated asset management and mutual fund operations platform, based in Boston. "This represents a key step in the evolution of the company's...

S&P Sizes Up S&P 500's Credit Quality.(Standard & Poor's Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... S&P reported last week that credit quality is looking up for companies on the S&P 500 Index. In fact, 56 entities are poised for upgrades, S&P said. And while downgrades are still outpacing upgrades, the proportion of downgrades is decreasing....

Gaming Industry Looks Stable, But Some Risks Do Exist.
March 14, 2005... The outlook for the gaming industry, which has benefited from an improving economy and the increasing popularity of the Las Vegas Strip, is stable, at best, according to recent reports by both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's....

Fitch Expects To Rate More MM CLOs Amid Robust Issuance.(middle market collateralized loan obligation)
March 14, 2005... To paraphrase the late crooner Frank Sinatra, Fitch Ratings expects 2005 will be "a very good year" for middle market collateralized loan obligation (CLO) issuance, as the agency is gearing up to rate more transactions in the relatively young...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 14, 2005... In reference to BLR's 2/28/05 story on United Capital Markets (UCM) - "UCM Outlines Big Growth Plans" - UCM clarified the following figures related to its revenue and its number of institutional accounts: By GAAP accounting, UCM and its...

Ratings Movers: Corrections Corp. Up On Debt Prepay/US Can Drops.
March 14, 2005... Attributing the upgrade to the company's improved financial profile, Standard & Poor's boosted its ratings on the senior secured debt of Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) to BB from BB-. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company's bank debt includes...

Goodbye, Congress Financial Name: Wachovia Merges Groups.(Congress Financial Corp.)
March 21, 2005... Market players can now say goodbye to the name Congress Financial Corp. in the US asset-based lending (ABL) space. That's because the 57-year-old business, known for its business of providing financing to stressed companies in turnaround...

Mezzanine Players React To Tough Times.
March 21, 2005... While the larger syndicated loan market has been thriving in recent years, long-time players in the mezzanine market have gone through some tougher times, having to compete for business with providers of newer debt products, such as the second...

Could Bain's NHL Move Ignite Followers?(Bain Capital LLC, National Hockey League)
March 21, 2005... Bain Capital LLC's and Game Plan LLC's $3.5 billion bid for the entire National Hockey League (NHL) may have set the world of private equity - not to mention sports finance - to quacking, but it also raises an interesting question: Just who...

DIRECTV To Come To Market With New Refinancing Credit.(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... The DIRECTV Group announced last week that two of its subsidiaries, DIRECTV Holdings LLC and DIRECTV Financing Co., Inc., are planning to come to market with a $2 billion credit facility. In addition, the company plans to issue up to $500...

AMS Launch Set For Tuesday.(Acoustical Material Services)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Sole lead UBS is slated to launch a $160 million credit facility on Tuesday, March 22, for Acoustical Material Services, Inc. (AMS) in connection with plans for a dividend recapitalization. The deal includes a $35 million, five-year revolver...

Wachovia Shops Unifrax.(Wachovia Securities Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Syndication was launched last week for a $215 million credit facility for Unifrax Corp., a Niagara Falls, N.Y.-based producer of heat resistant ceramic fiber products. The deal, which is being arranged via Wachovia Securities, is comprised of a...

Bank Trio Leads Nexstar.(Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Bank of America, Union Bank of Switzerland, Merrill Lynch )(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. and Mission Broadcasting Group hit the market last week with a $455 million refinancing. The Nexstar deal includes a $50 million, seven-year revolver priced at Libor plus 125 bps, as well as a $182.3 million,...

Cogentrix To Launch Wednesday.(Cogentrix Energy Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Cogentrix Energy Inc. is set to go to market on Wednesday with a $700 million credit facility. The new bank debt is said to be used to finance, in part, the company's $550 million acquisition of equity interests in 11 power plants, a natural...

Keleher Joins Calyon's Loan Group.(Patrick Keleher)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Last week, Calyon announced that Patrick Keleher was appointed as a director in the bank's sales and trading team of its loan syndications group. He will report to Peter Kelly, managing director and head of the sales and trading team. ...

LSTA: Make Good Friday A Holiday.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Last week, The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) announced that it is urging the syndicated bank loan market to honor Good Friday (March 25) as a loan market holiday in terms of calculating the start date for delayed compensation...

CIT Forms Canadian Infrastructure Fund.(CIT Group-Capital Financing Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... CIT Capital Finance recently announced that is has formed a Canadian-dollar denominated $2.5 billion CIT Canadian Infrastructure Fund with Deutsche Bank, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and Sun Life Financial as leading participants....

Credit Derivatives Grew 123% In 2004.(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... The notional amount for credit derivatives grew by almost 55% in the last six months of 2004 (to $8.42 trillion from $5.44 trillion), according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), which announced results from its...

ISDA Elects Directors.(International Swaps and Derivatives Association)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Delegates at ISDA's annual general meeting in Barcelona, Spain, also elected 11 directors last week, nine of whom currently serve on ISDA's board. The appointments include: Mark Davies, senior managing director at Bear Stearns, Kaushik Amin,...

Wachovia Appoints Armstrong To Head Corporate Finance.(Wachovia Securities Inc., Jeff Armstrong )(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Wachovia Securities announced last week that it has named Jeff Armstrong as the bank's new head of corporate finance. The newly created position will give Armstrong the responsibility of overseeing Wachovia's 12 investment banking origination...

Jefferies Adds Four Staffers To Media Group.(Jefferies and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Jefferies & Company, Inc. announced last week that the firm has hired a team of four investment bankers to supports its efforts in the media and communications space. The quartet includes Mark A. Leavitt, managing director and new head of...

AlixPartners Brings On Deedy To Support IT Biz.(Steve Deedy)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Corporate turnaround, performance improvement and financial advisory firm, AlixPartners, announced the appointment of Steve Deedy last Thursday as a managing director in its Southfield, Mich. office. Deedy will be responsible for leading...

Deutsche Bank Picks Dunbar To Head Global Markets.(Ivor Dunbar)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Deutsche Bank in London announced last week that Ivor Dunbar has been appointed as head of global markets in Europe, outside of Germany. Now, Dunbar will be responsible for the horizontal management of the bank's global markets franchise in the...

Ratings Movers: Sealy Up On Performance/MedQuest Ratings Drop.
March 21, 2005... Executives at Sealy Mattress Company slept well last week with the news that Moody's Investors Service upgraded all of the company's ratings, including its $785 million in bank debt. Moody's cited the company's strong operating performance, the...

Could Goodyear's Third Lien Attract Imitators? It Depends.
March 28, 2005... So far, it looks to be a good year for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, at least in light of the company's success in attaining debt financing. When the Akron, Ohio-based tire manufacturer launched a bank debt refinancing deal about a month...

DrKW Looks To Ride Europe's M&A Wave.(merger and acquisition; Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein )
March 28, 2005... European bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) has big plans to capitalize on the budding M&A market in Europe. In fact, Bill Fish, head of global loan product, anticipates that Europe will continue to see robust activity in the M&A space...

Agencies Jazz Up Ratings Products.
March 28, 2005... In response to the heightened interest in both default and recovery prospects in the speculative grade marketplace, all three major rating agencies have decided that it is time to spice up their ratings offerings. Essentially, the agencies are...

Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers Shop Protection One Refinancing.(Bear Stearns Companies Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers hit the market last week with a $275 million credit facility for Protection One, Inc. The deal is comprised of a $25 million, five-year revolver and a $250 million, six-year term loan B. Price talk for the...

Chiquita Bank Deal Launches.(Chiquita Brands International's acquisition of Fresh Express backed by Wachovia Securities, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group)(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... Last Wednesday, Wachovia Securities, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs hit the market with a $625 million bank facility for Chiquita Brands International in connection with the company's acquisition of the Fresh Express unit of the Performance...

Court Approves Winn-Dixie DIP Loan.
March 28, 2005... On March 18, Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. announced that it had received approval from the US Bankruptcy Court for its $800 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan. The DIP loan, which is being provided by Wachovia, takes the place of the company's...

Wyndham On Tap This Week.(Wyndham International Inc. getting loans from J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. for refinancing)(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... JP Morgan is slated to launch syndication of a $1.65 billion refinancing for Wyndham International, Inc. later this week, according to a source. The company announced earlier this month that it planned to refinance over 90% of its credit...

Babson Closes $850M CLO.(Babson Capital Management L.L.C., collateralized loan obligation )(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... Last week, Babson Capital Management LLC announced that it closed an $850 million collateralized loan obligation (CLO), CLO 2005-I, which was upsized from $600 million. The average weighted cost of the debt was 44.8 bps over Libor. The CLO,...

Debt Maturities Galore In 2007.
March 28, 2005... A significant amount - about $94 billion - of non-investment grade bank debt and bonds will mature within the next three years, Moody's Investors Service reported earlier this month. The current total for the next three years is a decline from...

S&P: Good News, Bad News For Fallen Angels.(bonds of lowered quality)(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... A new Standard & Poor's study delivers some good news and bad news for fallen angels. While historical data show that these issuers are more likely to default than other speculative grade entities, at the same time, they statistically have a...

Galliot Joins Natexis Banques Populaires.(Jean-Louis Galliot appointed)(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... Jean-Louis Galliot has been appointed as the senior country manager of US operations for Natexis Banques Populaires' corporate and institutional banking and markets division. Galliot, who joined the French bank in November 2004, previously...

Gluck Retires From Moody's.(Jeremy Gluck of Moody's Investor Service)(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... Jeremy Gluck is retiring from his position at Moody's Investors Service. Most recently a senior vice president in the derivatives group, Gluck has been with Moody's since 1992. Gluck had moved from New York to Moody's' San Francisco office in...

Clarification.(Correction Notice)
March 28, 2005... In BLR's 3/21/05 article - "LSTA: Make Good Friday A Holiday" - there was mention that The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) was urging the syndicated bank loan market to honor Good Friday (March 25) as a loan market holiday, in...

Ratings Movers: American Casino Wins/C&A Down.
March 28, 2005... Last week, Las Vegas-based American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC (ACEP) was a winner, as Standard & Poor's upgraded the gaming company's senior secured debt to B+ from B. "The upgrade reflects ACEP's continued solid operating...

How Will Rising Interest Rates Affect The Mezz Market?(mezzanine deals)(Panel Discussion)
March 28, 2005... As the rising interest rate environment is expected to drive more business into the mezzanine market, it has not yet impacted the way deals are formed, according to panelists at the Institute for International Research's Sixth Annual Mezzanine...

BAS Centralizes Fixed Income Research Department.(Banc of America Securities L.L.C. reorganizes its division)
March 28, 2005... In a move intended to support the independence of its fixed income research, Banc of America Securities (BAS) revealed some organizational changes to its debt research division last week. The changes come as many other firms, too, are taking...

Back In The Days When AAA Ratings Ruled.
March 28, 2005... General Motors Corp. (GM), AT&T Corp. and Sears, Roebuck and Co. Back in the early 1980s, these and other mainstays of corporate America were among the 30-plus non-financial US companies that earned the coveted AAA rating - but not anymore. ...