Bank Loan Report articles from November 2004

Bank Loan Report archives from November 2004

Hungry For Profits: Supermarkets Could Face Tough Times.
November 1, 2004... Although the market has, for the most part, been on the up-and-up in terms of credit quality, it looks like one industry - the supermarket industry - could be in for some not so healthy times ahead. Factors such as increased competition,...

Potential SMAs Balk At Texas Genco.(Senior Managing Agent)
November 1, 2004... Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had to extend the senior managing agent (SMA) syndication round for Texas Genco Holdings's $2.2 billion buyout financing deal last week after banks balked at the fees being offered compared with the perceived...

Will Basel II Reduce Euro Lending?
November 1, 2004... European banks could soon start giving a cold shoulder to their lower-rated clients without knowing the ultimate impact of the upcoming Basel II regulatory agreements, set to be completed by 2007. Call it a pre-emptive sobering up. While...

BNP Paribas Leads Loan/Notes Package For ProPex Buyout...(ProPex Fabrics)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... BNP Paribas launched syndication last Thursday of a $175 million credit to support the buyout of ProPex Fabrics, while the bank also plans to complete a $150 million, eight-year senior unsecured notes deal to support the transaction as well....

...While Smart & Final Refi Also Emerges.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Meanwhile, BNP Paribas is also prepping another credit facility - for Smart & Final, a Commerce, Calif.-based warehouse food store company. Jan P. Berger, vice president and treasurer of Smart & Final, said the refinancing will be completed by...

RBC, BofA Shop Stratos Global Redux.(Royal Bank of Canada)(Bank of America )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Bank of America launched syndication last Thursday of a $150 million credit for Stratos Global Corp., a spokesman confirmed. The deal, which will be used to refinance the company's existing debt of about $125...

Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro Lean Toward Low End Of New Skies' Price Talk.
November 1, 2004... Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro were set to shut down syndication for New Skies Satellites' heavily oversubscribed, $535 million credit last week, with pricing leaning toward the tight end of talk, according to a banker. The credit includes a $460...

GE Commercial Finance Strengthens Sales Team.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... GE Commercial Finance (GE CF) picked up two new loan sales team members for its capital markets sales desk last week in order to better accommodate the firm's deal flow, which has been increasing over the past year due to GE's lending push to...

McDaniel To Take Moody's Helm Next April.(Raymond McDaniel)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Raymond McDaniel has been elected as president and COO of Moody's Corp. and is set to become chairman and CEO of the company, effective April 2005, when the current chairman and CEO, John Rutherford, plans to resign at the age of 65. In his new...

A Barrel Of Laughs: LSTA Conference Takes A Shot At Comedy.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association)
November 1, 2004... The Loan Syndications and Trading Association's (LSTA) ninth annual conference held late last month In New York City was a chance for many US loan market players to gather together and discuss the state of the loan market right now, as well as...

It's A Toss-Up: Wall Street Divided On Election.
November 1, 2004... Conventional wisdom would have us believe that Wall Street, by the very nature of its business, would unequivocally favor a Republican administration over a Democratic one. But the 2004 US presidential election has been so hotly contested that...

Middle Market CLOs Differ Greatly From Traditional Vehicles.(collateralized loan obligations )
November 8, 2004... Middle market collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) are getting hotter, as loan investors continue to search frantically for loan supply to put their money toward, and as middle market loan issuance - which generally consists of loans for $100...

CP Mart Credit Quality Is On The Mend.(commercial paper )
November 8, 2004... The commercial paper (CP) market has been getting a number of pats on the back as the corporate landscape has strengthened this year, and the latest positive nod comes from Moody's Investors Service. In a report released last week, the...

Battle Royale For Korean Energy King.
November 8, 2004... SK Corp., the largest oil refiner in South Korea as well as a regular participant in the international high yield bond markets and a holder of bank debt, is in a pitched battle with some of its foreign shareholders despite the company's...

Monroe Capital Launches As Hilco Capital Winds Down.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... With the four-year investment fund, Hilco Capital LP, expiring this year, the current managers of the $320 million fund have set their sights on a brand new one - Monroe Capital LLC. Hilco's president and CEO, Theodore Koenig, announced last...

Babson Closes New CLO.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... Babson Capital Management recently announced the close of its newest collateralized loan obligation (CLO) for $450 million, Babson CLO Ltd. 2004-II. The fund closed with a weighted average spread of its liabilities at Libor plus 48.3 basis...

Bank Trio Steers Northwest Air Through Syndication.(JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup)
November 8, 2004... JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup launched syndication last week of a $975 million credit facility for Northwest Airlines. The new credit must be restructured prior to Northwest's contract implementation with the Air Line Pilots...

UBS To Shop Regency Gas.
November 8, 2004... UBS is scheduled to launch syndication tomorrow of a $280 million credit in support of the buyout of Regency Gas Services by Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst for $405 million. The facility includes a $40 million revolver and a $160 million first...

JP Morgan To Syndicate Windsor Quality Food Facility.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... JP Morgan is scheduled to launch syndication tomorrow of a credit facility for Windsor Quality Food Company, according to an investor. Exact details on the credit could not be confirmed by press time. Windsor most recently completed a $75...

Investors Oversubscribe Aircast LBO Deal.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... Wachovia Securities' and Credit Suisse First Boston's $85 million leveraged buyout deal for Aircast was a blowout in syndication, according to a source. The company received BB-/B1 ratings for its first lien debt and B-/B2 ratings for its...

Triton PCS Seeks New Term Loan.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... Triton PCS is set to complete a new $250 million term loan in order to replace its existing $100 million revolver, as well as to support general corporate purposes, fund possible acquisitions and retire debt. Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and...

GE CF Adds To Structuring Team.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... GE Commercial Finance (GE CF) announced the arrival of Charles Stearns and John Timoney to its capital markets group last week. Both hires will be acting as vice presidents in structuring and will report to Dan Gioia, managing director for GE...

BLR People News.(Thomson Media)(Brief Article)
November 8, 2004... Judy McDermott has been named Managing Editor of Thomson Media's Bank Loan Report. Judy was most recently a Senior Reporter for BLR for about a year after working at Institutional Investor, Inc. previously. She has written for various...

European High Yield: How High Can Europe's Leverage Go?
November 8, 2004... Near perfect conditions in Europe's high yield market have bankers anticipating a slew of jumbo leveraged buyout (LBO)-related deals that would boost what has already been a bumper year for junk issuance. But with LBOs driving the market, how...

Moody's Observes Link Between SGL And Long-Term Ratings.
November 8, 2004... In a report released last week, Moody's Investors Service noted a link between its relatively new speculative-grade liquidity (SGL) ratings product - a liquidity score that was first launched in October 2002 and focuses more specifically on...

Distressed Opportunities Abound In China and Europe.(Distressed Debt Investing )
November 15, 2004... International opportunities in distressed debt investing continue to be a main point of interest among investors and turnaround management experts alike. And with an increasing number of US firms setting up shop in Europe and elsewhere, the...

Texas Genco Retail To Launch Friday.
November 15, 2004... The $2.2 billion debt financing package for the buyout of Texas Genco is finally going to launch for retail syndication this Friday, Nov. 19, after being postponed for more than three weeks due to regulatory approval holdups, according to...

Could Coal Price Hikes Hurt IG Bids?
November 15, 2004... The sudden uptick in coal prices this year is putting the pinch on electric utilities, with some fearing that if price inflation continues to be a factor in 2005 it could derail long-term plans by utilities to emerge from non-investment grade...

BNP Paribas Syndicates Cosmetic Essence LBO Deal.
November 15, 2004... BNP Paribas launched syndication last Tuesday of a $151 million credit backing the $245 million buyout of BMP/CEI Holdings, the parent company of Holmdel, N.J.-based Cosmetic Essence, by Canada-based Onex Partners. The credit includes a...

Insolvency Changes Spark Focus On Euro Distressed Debt.
November 15, 2004... The unraveling of Italy's Parmalat may be Europe's largest financial flop but it's far from the first. Yet note holders are unclear as to what recoveries, if any, they can anticipate from the insolvency process currently underway in Italian...

When All Else Fails, Sue: SK/Sovereign Battle Goes To Courts.(SK Corp.)(Sovereign Asset Management)
November 15, 2004... Foiled in its attempt to take its case to fellow shareholders, investor Sovereign Asset Management Ltd. is now turning to the South Korean courts to settle its dispute with the board of SK Corp. (BLR, 11/8). Sovereign, a Monaco-based...

Distressed Investors Gamble On Opportunities.
November 15, 2004... Distressed investors and turnaround professionals met at the Venetian in Las Vegas last week for the Sixth Annual West Distressed Debt Investing Forum, presented by Strategic Research Institute. The two-day event included discussions ranging...

Bally Total Fitness Needs More Muscle As Competition Grows.
November 15, 2004... Bally Total Fitness may be able to shape up, even though it faces increasingly tough competition from both high-end and low-end health clubs entering and succeeding in this ever-growing industry. Investors have recently become concerned with...

Focusing On Left-Side Business,' BofA is Third in High Yield.(Banc of America Securities')
November 15, 2004... If debt products form the foundation of Banc of America Securities' business, high yield underwriting now looks to be one of the cornerstones. Helped in part by its premier leveraged lending platform, the Charlotte, N.C.-based universal...

Lock-up Periods May Grow Longer For Hedge Funds.
November 22, 2004... Hedge funds are starting to get away with greater lock-up periods, which is the period of time that investors are required to keep their money in a fund before they can cash in their shares. This is, some believe, because as hedge funds...

Derivatives Volatility Could Increase.
November 22, 2004... Over the past couple of years, an increasing number of corporates have been using derivatives to hedge against potential risks associated with interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, equities and commodity prices. At the same time,...

Model NOL Order To Prevent Trading Halts.
November 22, 2004... The new and improved model NOL (net operating loss) order for dealing with tax credits generated by bankrupt companies is now complete and available for all debt and equity market constituents, according to The Bond Market Association (BMA) and...

GE CFS Sends Mehta To Europe To Propel Secondary Trading Biz.(Neeraj Mehta, GE Corporate Financial Services)
November 22, 2004... GE Corporate Financial Services (GE CFS) is moving Neeraj Mehta, formerly of GE's Bank Loan Group in the US, to GE CFS' Europe office in London in order to support the company's initiative to build more secondary trading business in the region....

Dollarama Launches In US And Canada.($435 million buyout credit)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Citigroup and Royal Bank of Canada launched last week a Canadian dollar-denominated, cross-border, $435 million buyout credit for Dollarama, the dollar-store chain. A banker confirmed that the deal's US dollar equivalent to the Canadian...

Wrigley Plans New Deal For Life Savers/Altoids Purchase.(confectionary brands of Kraft Foods)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company is planning to complete a $1.5 billion credit facility that will support its $1.48 billion acquisition of certain confectionary assets of Kraft Foods, including the Life Savers, Creme Savers and Altoids brands. A...

REGAL-BELOIT To Expand Credit.(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Beloit, Wis.-based REGAL-BELOIT CORP. said it is planning to expand its existing credit facility in order to support its $379 million acquisition of General Electric Company's Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)/ Refrigeration...

Birle And Lyons Named Co-Heads Of Merrill Debt/Equity Cap Markets.(Jim Birle, Bob Lyons)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Merrill Lynch has appointed Jim Birle and Bob Lyons as co-heads of debt and equity capital markets for the Americas. While holding the new titles, both individuals will maintain their existing titles at Merrill as well. Birle will remain the...

The EHYA Appoints Edwards As Chairman.(Bryant Edwards, European High Yield Association)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... The European High Yield Association (EHYA) has appointed Bryant Edwards as its new chairman. Edwards is a corporate partner at Latham & Watkins and is the chair of the firm's London corporate department. The EHYA board also announced three...

Moulds Elected As Chairman Of ISDA.(Jonathan Moulds, International Swaps and Derivatives Association)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Jonathan Moulds, head of cross-product strategic trading at Banc of America Securities, has been elected chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). Michele Faissola, global head of rates at Deutsche Bank's global...

Banking Sector Faces Mixed Bag Of Issues.
November 22, 2004... The relatively healthy banking industry has been managing record amounts of capital and peak returns, but as Barry Kroeger, deputy director of Americas banking and capital markets practice at Ernst & Young LLP (E&Y), says, there are still...

Out In Front': B&G Foods Leads The Way For US EIS Transactions.(Enhanced Income Security)(Interview)
November 22, 2004... B&G Foods is one of the first US issuers of the Enhanced Income Security (EIS) structure, a financing tool David Wenner, president and CEO, believes to be a good fit for his company's business profile. Similar to income trusts in Canada,...

First-Time CLO Managers Could Be Put To The Test In Downturn.(collateralized loan obligation)
November 29, 2004... Although it appears that right now many collateralized loan obligation (CLO) investors are being blase about some CLO managers' lack of a CLO track record, according to Standard & Poor's' recent report that examines the US CLO manager...

Euro CLOs Thrive Despite Tight Spreads.(collateralized loan obligations)
November 29, 2004... Like its US counterpart, the European collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market has been going great guns this year. But just like in the US, the voracious demand for loan paper in the primary market is starting to have an impact on CLOs in...

Hotel/Condo Financing Remains Risky.
November 29, 2004... Developers in the US hotel market, pushed by the scarcity of traditional financing and demand for vacation homes, have created a new trend of hotel development projects: condominium/hotel properties. Hotel financing has long been a risky...

LNR Property Follows In GGP's Footsteps To Tap Loan Market.(General Growth Properties)
November 29, 2004... On the heels of the recent successful syndication of real estate investment trust (REIT) General Growth Properties' massive $7.245 billion credit facility (in which the $2 billion term loan B was trading in the 100.3 to 100.5 context last week,...

Funeral Cos Come Alive With New Refi, Repricing Via BofA.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Just as funeral services provider Stewart Enterprises announced completion of its $225 million refinanced credit facility via BofA last Monday, Alderwoods Group, another funeral services company, emerged on the same day with a repricing of its...

Universal City Launches Recap.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Several investors took a look at the $650 million dividend recapitalization deal for Universal City Development Partners last week. JP Morgan and BofA pitched a credit, which comprises a $100 million revolver and a $550 million term loan, both...

Departures Stack Up At JP Morgan.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Several employees in various departments at JP Morgan have departed in what the firm is calling a reorganization of its US operations. Jeremy Barnum, co-head of US credit trading left the firm recently, along with managers in private...

Japanese CDO Market Taps SME Collateral.(Collateralized Debt Obligations )(Small-to-Medium Enterprise )
November 29, 2004... At least two collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) backed by small-to-medium enterprise (SME) collateral priced in Japan's CDO market last quarter, leading to anticipation that SME CLOs will be the busiest area of issuance for the growing...

Merrill Lynch Capital Charges Through Middle Market.
November 29, 2004... As the stock market was collapsing around it, Merrill Lynch & Co. watched with interest when finance giant General Electric Capital Corp. shelled out $5.3 billion in 2001 for Heller Financial, a middle market lender based in Chicago. Merrill,...

No Guarantee For Single Tranche CDO Liquidity From CDS.(Collateralized Debt Obligation)(Credit Default Swap )
November 29, 2004... A growing number of collateralized debt obligation (CDO) investors are embracing the strategy of taking on corporate exposure through the credit default swap (CDS) market. Yet, CDO investors exploring the CDS market may still be mistaken with...