Bank Loan Report articles from October 2008

Bank Loan Report archives from October 2008

An Open Letter To Mr. And Ms. American Taxpayer.(Editorial)
October 6, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse Over the past couple of weeks, many of you have voiced your understandable anger at the idea of a governmental bailout of America's financial system. Across the country, the chorus rings out: It's not my fault, why...

As Times Change, So Must Credit Markets.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan While political leaders haggle over the shape of a potential bailout bill that will include credit market reforms, players in the credit markets have their own wish lists of things they'd like to see change. ...

Apollo Is On The Hook For Huntsman Buy.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Kelly Holman Hexion Specialty Chemicals, a Columbus, Ohio-based portfolio company of Apollo Global Management, was ordered last Monday to complete its $10.6 billion acquisition of Texas chemicals company Huntsman. Delaware...

Cash Loan Investors To LCDX: Drop Dead.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals If cash loan market participants got their hands on a DeLorean and a flux capacitor, some might use it to travel back to May 22, 2007 and stop the launch of the Markit LCDX index. "The LCDX has become no...

The Diminishing Leagues Of The League Tables.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse Every quarter, for something like the last gazillion years, Bank Loan Report has presented its readers with the leveraged loan league tables, and we've written about deal volume, changes in rank and trends in the...

Office Depot Secures $1.25B Asset-Based Loan.(Loan Market Buzz)
October 6, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Office Depot, as its ads say, is taking care of business. Last week the Delray Beach, Fla.-based office supplies retailer secured a $1.25 billion asset-based credit facility with JPMorgan. The loan is secured by...

Banks Could Issue $1.2B For Oil Co.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals A bank consortium could soon package a $1.2 billion credit facility for Precision Drilling, a Canadian oil and gas driller. The debt, which would help fund Precision's buyout of Houston-based oil and gas driller...

CP Facility Likely Won't Change Much For HY.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan In a one-two punch, the Federal Reserve last week launched a special commercial paper buying facility and cut the interest rate to 1.5%. While credit market participants are hopeful that the moves will help restore...

Weary Investors Battle Confusion, Hang On to Hope.(Editor's Note)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse "How are you?" I say. "Is that a rhetorical question?" the investor says. And so begins one of the conversations I had with portfolio managers last week. We all know it's bad out there. Really bad. The worst it...

Unwinding Hedge Funds Deepen Trading Woes.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan Under normal circumstances, the low prices in the high yield loan and bond secondary markets should create a stampede of eager buyers looking for great deals. Instead, we've seen only more fear and lower prices....

LCP Hammers Out Deal In Bankruptcy Court.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Lehman Commercial Paper, a unit of Lehman Brothers that executes loan and bond trades, last week filed for Chapter 11 and asked for what is called a "first day order," which allows LCP to continue its...

Loan Market Sees TRS Liquidations.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Earlier this year, right around the time Bear Stearns bit the dust, banks including UBS and Wachovia liquidated several market-value CLOs at steep discounts. Many thought that the market had bottomed out. It...

Wells Fargo, Jefferies Pull Landry's, MBF Loans.(Loan Market Buzz)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Wells Fargo and Jefferies have pulled a $300 million credit facility for Landry's Restaurants and a $250 million term loan A for MBF Healthcare Acquisition Corp. The Landry's deal, which includes a $250 million...

Private Equity Eyes Budget Restaurant Deals.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Danielle Fugazy Retail spending is down. Between higher gas prices and feelings of job insecurity, the average consumer is not spending on the extras. Some were hopeful that back-to-school shopping would offer a little nudge to the...

Banks Shift To Restructuring And Recovery.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan It may be safe to say that troubled banks view the enactment of the government bailout as Winston Churchill viewed the British victory over Rommel in the battle of El Alamein. "Now this is not the end. It is not...

In The Spirit Of Fairness: Wall Street CEOs Stink.(Editor's Note)(Editorial)
October 20, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse This just might qualify as the toughest column I've ever had to write. I mean, blasting billionaires? This is difficult work. But I have to say, I feel up to the challenge, so here goes... A couple of weeks ago,...

Q&A: S&P's Vazza Discusses Stress In High Yield Debt.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Aleksanders Rozens Standard & Poor's earlier this month announced that its composite of high yield debt spreads hit a five-year high. That news came on the heels of the rating agency warning that U.S. corporate defaults could rise...

Herff Jones $735 Million Facility Postponed Again.(Loan Market Buzz)
October 20, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals A $735 million credit facility for Herff Jones keeps getting delayed. Almost a month after postponing the deal for the first time, Bank of America and Wachovia last week postponed the credit facility once again,...

Investors Turn To Pension Funds To Ease Liquidity Woes.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals An increasing number of loan investors have been seeking capital from pension funds to ease their liquidity squeeze. But while some pension funds have made the leap into the loan market, others have had cold feet...

IACPM Poll: Spreads To Widen Even More.(International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers)(Survey)
October 20, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Just when you thought they couldn't get any wider, a survey conducted by the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers shows that credit investors believe spreads are likely to widen even more over...

Phone Co. Revises Refinancing With Hedge Fund Lender.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Vonage has revised the terms of its proposed debt refinancing package with Silver Point Capital, and is scheduled to vote on the transaction next month. The new debt refinancing package contains a $130...

Firms Jump On The Bank Bandwagon.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Steven Sloan What was a move of desperation for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley could become a strategy for a broad array of institutions hoping to weather the economic turmoil. With liquidity at a premium and confidence in...

No Rest For The Wicked, And None For You Either.(Editor's Note)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan In times of crisis like these, the public demands to be fed contemptible targets to hate and bear the blame. KKR's Henry Kravis, often viewed as a poster child for private equity's largesse, admitted in a speech at...

Citi Arranges $736M Orascom Credit Facility.(Loan Market Buzz)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Orascom Construction Industries, a Cairo, Egypt-based contractor and fertilizer producer, has secured a $736 million credit facility from a bank consortium. Citi is the lead bank, and other participating banks...

Oil Tanker Co. Secures $500M TLB From ING.(News)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals New York-based Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) has secured a $500 million term loan B from a bank consortium to help it finance the acquisition of two supertankers from Euronav NV, a global tanker company. ING...

New Issuers, Buyers Await Return Of Primary.(News)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan While recent government action and a responsive credit market offer hope of a thaw, the high yield bond and leveraged loan markets remain in a deep freeze. There are signs of hope, such as new buyers beginning to...

Legal Side Sees Silver Lining In Down Market.(QandA)(Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw L.L.P.)(Interview)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Marshall Stoddard, partner, co-chair of Mayer Brown's global finance practice, sees the legal angles of this business. He is a transactional attorney and corporate advisor whose practice primarily focuses on...