Bank Loan Report articles from May 2003

Bank Loan Report archives from May 2003

Loans Trade Above Par in Secondary, But is Rally Fundamental?
May 5, 2003... The US secondary market for syndicated loans is on a roll. Because bids have been so strong over the past few weeks, prices on most institutional tranches - including those that don't feature call protection - have been rising, and many...

Despite Challenges, Duke Launches CDO.
May 5, 2003... Duke Street Capital Debt Management's closing of Duchess II, the second-largest leveraged loan collateralized debt obligation (CDO) to close in Europe this year, proved that despite increasingly difficult market conditions, it is still possible...

Investors Frustrated by Silent Companies.
May 5, 2003... The first-quarter reporting season is winding down, and earnings have for the most part beat Wall Street expectations, but high yield investors are still not happy. Many say they are having trouble with companies that - well, just won't talk to...

New Deals are Coming, Sources Say, but For Now, Secondary Market is More Active than the Primary.
May 5, 2003... New issuance has been slow in the past few weeks, but market sources say that things are going to pick up in the near future. "The primary market does look quiet now, but from what we've heard from underwriters, the pipeline is quite...

Owens-Brockway Triumphs with Jumbo New Issue.
May 5, 2003... US The US primary market ramped up last week, with more than $2.09 billion in new bonds pricing by press time and four more still waiting to price. Tightest-Ever Pricing for Owens-Brockway Owens-Brockway was first up with a...

DTCC's New Service Provides Stability to Credit Default Swaps.
May 12, 2003... Credit default swaps are not the easiest instruments to wrap one's mind around, and potential market players must accept risks and overhead costs that may sway them toward cautiously waiting on the sideline until the market evolves further. ...

European Loans Market: Quieter In '03.
May 12, 2003... Two thousand and two was a solid year for the European leveraged loan market. New issuance topped out at a healthy E87.4 billion, according to data from Loan Pricing Corp., up from E76.5 in 2001, with most of the deals (E57.4 billion worth)...

HY Market Rallies, But is it Justified?
May 12, 2003... Over the past 10 weeks, investors have crammed more than $1 billion a week into the hands of high yield fund managers. As a result, demand for new paper has been soaring, reaching an all-time high in the first quarter of 2003, according to...

Collateralized Loan Obligations Have a Good Run: Several Hefty New Deals Launched in April and Early May.
May 12, 2003... April Proves Good Month for CLOs This year's April showers not only produced May flowers, they also led to an increase in collateralized debt obligation (CDO) volume, particularly through collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). CDO...

GE Financial Appoints Flannery as Loan Head.
May 12, 2003... GE Corporate Financial Services last week named John Flannery as managing director in charge of the bank loan group. Formerly president and CEO of GE Equity, Flannery will report to Michael Gaudino, president and CEO of GE Corporate Financial...

For the Adventurous, Distressed is the Place to Be.
May 12, 2003... Some investors like to follow the herd and pile into whatever's the hottest asset class of the moment. And there are others, like Steven Persky, managing director at Los Angeles-based Dalton Investments LLC, who prefer to seek out investment...

At a Glance: Steven Persky, Managing Director at Los Angeles-Based Dalton Investments LLC.
May 12, 2003... Given Steven Persky's background, it is not surprising that he wound up launching an investment firm that has a heavy emphasis on Japanese investments. Growing up in New York City, Persky attended the Dalton School, where he met his friend...

Despite Better Market Tone, CMA-CGM Fails to Garner Interest.
May 12, 2003... US The US primary market was hot again last week, with a whopping 13 deals scheduled to price and six pricing by press time. Flextronics Prices a Refi Flextronics priced a Ba2/BB- rated, $400 million offering of 10-year non-call...

Investment Grade Volume Plummets And Deal Terms Loosen.
May 19, 2003... The volume of investment grade syndicated loans has taken a tumble so far this year, eaten up by competition from the bond market and bankers newfound unwillingness to give away their bread butter in search of higher-yielding ancillary...

Energy Companies Refi Victories In Doubt.
May 19, 2003... Success in the credit markets these days is fleeting, at least for some energy companies. While some companies might be rejoicing at their ability to refinance, fresh funding may simply have delayed the inevitable for them. "If I'm in a...

Packaged Ice LBO Tempts, But Beware.(leveraged buyout )
May 19, 2003... For existing security holders, the proposed $450 million leveraged buyout of Packaged Ice Inc. by Bear Stearns Merchant Banking and Trimaran Capital Partners promises to be a bonanza. Only a year ago, the company's 9.75% bonds traded as low...

Because of Sweetheart Loan to CEO, Bondholders Try to get Avado to Restructure; Loan Market Gets Going Again.
May 19, 2003... By banding together and hiring reputable law firms to represent them, bondholders have been playing an increasingly high-profile role in today's corporate restructurings. Now some of them are trying to use their newfound influence to try to be...

While Ahold Looks Risky in the Near-Term, it Will Pull Through.
May 19, 2003... It was a risky move to make, but plucky investors who made the decision to go long Ahold bonds following the revelation of an accountancy scandal in February are now patting themselves on the back. Far from blowing up Enron-style (despite...

US May Be Flooded with Deals, but European Issuance Year To Date Has Outpaced 2002 Total Volume.
May 19, 2003... US A Bumper Crop Prices in the US It was a super busy week for the US primary market last week, with 19 deals expected to price and 13 pricing by press time. Interline Brands priced a Caa1/B- rated, $200 million offering of 11.5%...

Deflation's Bad For Banks/Borrowers But Could Widen Spreads.
May 26, 2003... Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan expressed his concern about deflation last week, but should it arrive, he will mainly have to deal with it at a policy level. Bankers, on the other hand, will have to confront the results of a...

UBS Touts Loans As CDO Collateral.(UBS Warburg, collateralized debt obligations )
May 26, 2003... There's no doubt about it, leveraged loans are the collateral of choice for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), both in the US and overseas, and according to Douglas Lucas, director of CDO strategy at UBS Warburg, serious CDO investors...

US Steel Deal Out To Apathetic Banks.
May 26, 2003... The beleaguered steel industry saw one of its stars recently complete a successful bond deal and an accompanying bank transaction reportedly was wrapping up last week. But bankers weren't taking any chances, and funding will likely be harder to...

Primary Market Forges on Ahead, but Institutional Investors Should Maintain Caution and Credit Discipline.
May 26, 2003... If it was silent just a couple of weeks ago, the US syndicated loan market has certainly picked up more than enough steam now, sources say. Last week, institutional accounts were so busy assessing and picking from the many issues available in...

Fallen Angels Warm to European High Yield for Refinancing.
May 26, 2003... Last week's jumbo E1 billion-equivalent refinancing for French specialist chemicals firm, Rhodia has shown that fallen angels can successfully access the high yield market and satisfy both their needs as well as those of investors. At the...

Rhodia, Impress Occupy Europe, as US Buys Up Deal Deluge.(high yield market deals )
May 26, 2003... US Ahead of the Memorial Day weekend and unofficial beginning of summer, the US high yield market last week was expecting 24 deals to price, 17 of which had priced by press time. Salt Holdings priced a B2/as-yet unrated, $100 million...