Bank Loan Report articles from October 2003

Bank Loan Report archives from October 2003

Loan Volumes Continue To Fall But Leveraged Lending Picks Up.
October 6, 2003... Overall, bank lending volume continued to drop through the third quarter of 2003, although leveraged lending saw an increase in volume that sources attributed largely to tighter spreads that prompted opportunistic borrowers to refinance. ...

CSFB Leads Blockbuster HY Market.(Credit Suisse First Boston leads high yields)
October 6, 2003... What a difference a year makes. Consider that for the period between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2002, proceeds from high yield deals underwritten totaled only $44.5 billion. According to Thomson Financial's's most recent high yield league tables...

CCP Finds Asset Sales Tough Going.(Crown Central Petroleum )
October 6, 2003... Crown Central Petroleum (CCP) desperately needs to sell assets to meet interest payments for the next six months. The company has had no luck in selling two Texas refineries it put on the block, and has so has had to put itself up completely...

Investment Grade Deals from the Energy and Financial Institutions Sectors Are Slated to Hit the Loan Market.(personnel appointments in banking industry)
October 6, 2003... As the fourth quarter gets underway and syndicated loan market participants continue to wait for fresh deals, several investment grade transactions are now on offer. Either currently in the market or slated to launch within the next few weeks,...

Carlyle Group Launches Par and Stressed Loan Combo Fund.
October 13, 2003... Building upon the strong performances of its four existing funds that invest mostly in bank loans, The Carlyle Group recently launched another $300 million fund that aims to provide the steady returns of par debt with the potential upside of...

FirstEnergy Clears Immediate Hurdles.
October 13, 2003... Despite possible challenges ahead, FirstEnergy has made considerable headway since the East Coast blackout in terms of bolstering its financial situation and it appears close to wrapping up its $1 billion loan, currently in syndication. ...

ABN, Blaylock: Too Late To HY Party?(Industry Overview)
October 13, 2003... The boom in US high yield corporate bond issuance is tempting more players to try to get a place at the table, but bankers said they wonder if all that is left for newcomers are scraps. Among the shops said to be considering a plunge into...

As High Demand For New Paper Continues, Many Issuers Benefit from Downward Price Flex On Their Deals.
October 13, 2003... Pricing flexes on deals have been more the rule than the exception in the syndicated loan market in the past years, and these days, when the demand for paper is high, it's the issuers that are benefiting from them. Indeed, several deals...

Judge Permits Unicredito Suit Against Enron Banks To Proceed.(Unicredito Italiano)
October 20, 2003... A New York judge recently decided to permit parts of Unicredito Italiano's suit against Enron's main banks to proceed, thereby allowing the Italian bank to continue to seek full damages and punitive awards. However, much of the complaint was...

Disclosure: A Storm in Europe's Teacup?
October 20, 2003... European high yield bond investors are complaining that three companies, Rhodia, Safilo and Sanitec, are all lacking in their disclosure of bank covenants - a growing problem in Europe, it seems. European bond investors have historically...

FASB Still Deliberating on FIN 46.(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
October 20, 2003... There has nary been a dull week in securitization accounting this year, as just about every Wednesday, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) grinds out a new set of ideas - often in opposition to deliberations from the previous week....

Middle Market Companies Really Want to Access Bank Debt, and Larger Banks Might Want to Take Notice.
October 20, 2003... Over the next 12 months, an increasing number of mid-size companies are expected to tap the capital markets for funding, and their first choice for financing is the bank loan market. According to a recent survey conducted by Broadgate...

Spreads Plummet As CLOs Diversify Into Revolvers.
October 27, 2003... Opportunistic refinancing at lower spreads has been the market mode since mid-summer and recently, that trend has reached new extremes. Lenders, however, may soon reach their limits, and some are already looking to invest in new markets. ...

Dex Media East Restructures, Reprices.
October 27, 2003... Dex Media East is looking to strike while the iron is hot. The company is repricing a $1.35 billion loan (reduced from the $1.49 billion it syndicated last year), in the hopes of clearing the market as smoothly as Dex Media West recently...

Gimme Independent High Yield Research.
October 27, 2003... Gimme Credit, the leading provider of independent corporate bond research for institutional investors, has proved its worth in the high grade market and has now moved into the high yield market. Last week, the firm announced the launch of a new...

No Matter What You Might Think, Refis Are Dominating Loan Market in Q4: Investors Are Holding Their Noses at Old Money' But Have Few Alternatives in the Current Market.
October 27, 2003... Despite the end of the traditional refinancing season and continued investor resistance to so-called "old money," companies are still rushing to refinance existing debt at better interest levels. And with no more than a handful of buyout...