Bank Loan Report articles from September 2005

Bank Loan Report archives from September 2005

Airline, Automotive Cos Could Suffer In Wake Of Hurricane Katrina.
September 12, 2005... As the US Gulf Coast region begins picking up the pieces after one of the most devastating natural disasters in the nation's history - Hurricane Katrina - players in the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets are still assessing the...

NYLIM CLO Adapts To Changing Market.
September 12, 2005... Things have changed since New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM) first ventured into the collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market about four years ago. For one, competition for loan paper is much stiffer now than it was back then,...

Marvel Inks Financing Pact With Merrill.
September 12, 2005... One of comic book giant Marvel Entertainment's prize characters, Spiderman, made a huge splash on the big screen. The only problem, at least as far as Marvel is concerned, was that the studios were the ones that cleaned up. By some estimates,...

Bank Trio Pitches Credit For Merger Of Concerto And Aspect.
September 12, 2005... Last week, Concerto Software, Inc., a portfolio company of private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, hit the market with a $725 million credit facility divided between a $50 million, five-year revolver, a $425 million, five-year term loan and a...

JPM Launches Concentra.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Last week, sole lead JPMorgan began shopping a $675 million bank facility to, in part, finance Concentra Operating Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Beech Street Corp. The deal is split between a $150 million, five-year revolver and a $525...

Entravision Hits Market With Refi.
September 12, 2005... Spanish language media company Entravision Communications Corp. hit the market last week with a $650 million credit facility to refinance its existing bank and bond debt. The facility is split between a $150 million, six-and-a-half-year...

Mega Deal On Tap To Back Intelsat, PanAmSat Merger.
September 12, 2005... Another mega leveraged buyout (LBO) financing is expected to hit the leveraged loan market in the coming months as a result of Intelsat, Ltd.'s announced $3.2 billion acquisition of rival satellite company PanAmSat Holding Corp. The...

Blackstone Enters Euro Debt Mart.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Last week, The Blackstone Group announced that its corporate debt group is expanding into Europe. Debra Anderson is coming on board as a managing director in the debt group to lead the new effort. "Based on the successes of Blackstone's private...

THL Partners Looks To Asia.(Thomas H. Lee Partners)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... In an effort to find investment opportunities in the Asian market, Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL Partners) announced last week it is teaming up with H&Q Asia Pacific, a private equity firm that invests throughout the Asia Pacific region, to help...

August Loan Default Rates Remain Low.
September 12, 2005... The default rate for US leveraged bank loans remained at a low 1.7% as no Moody's Investors Service-rated bank loans defaulted during the month of August, the rating agency said last week. However, Moody's did report that its speculative grade...

Wachovia Hires Reynolds To Lead Push Into Beverage Industry.
September 12, 2005... Wachovia Corp. announced last week that it is establishing a strategic focus on the US commercial beverage and bottling industry. The bank has appointed Christopher Reynolds to be commercial banking strategy manager for the industry. Reynolds,...

Patriot Capital Hires Pharaon.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Patriot Capital Funding, Inc., a specialty finance company, announced last week that it has appointed Basem Pharaon as senior vice president. Pharaon most recently worked in the global sponsor finance unit at GE Commercial Finance, where he...

Lehman Appoints Atterbury To Chair Euro Leveraged Finance.
September 12, 2005... Lehman Brothers announced last week that it has appointed Richard Atterbury as co-head of the global financial sponsors group and chairman of European leveraged finance. Atterbury, who will be based in London, formerly worked at Morgan Stanley...

Ratings Movers: BRP Up On Debt Pay/Northwest Down On Costs.
September 12, 2005... Bombardier Recreational Products' (BRP) recent pay-down of its term loan paid off for the motorized recreational products company, as Moody's Investors Service upgraded its $250 million, Canadian dollar-denominated revolver to Ba3 from B1 last...

First Lien Recovery Could Fade As Second Liens Are Less Silent.
September 12, 2005... The number of second lien loans that hold separate credit agreements is on the rise. This phenomenon could boost second lien lenders' recovery prospects at the expense of the first lien lenders, according to a recent report by Standard &...

LBO, M&A Deals Fill Calendar As Loan Market Heats Back Up.(leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions)
September 19, 2005... After a brief slowdown during the lazy days of August, the leveraged loan market is revving up again. And the surge in primary market activity is in good part fueled by a flurry of deals to finance mergers and buyouts. Market players say...

MTM Values Closer To Trading Prices.(mark-to-market)(loan market valuations)(Loan Syndications and Trading Association reports)
September 19, 2005... Underscoring the increased liquidity and transparency in the secondary loan market, mark-to-market (MTM) valuations of loans continue to move closer to their actual trade prices, The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) found in its...

CDS May Make Workouts More Onerous.(credit default swaps )
September 19, 2005... Executives at distressed companies have been well aware of the looming deadline to file for bankruptcy before the US bankruptcy laws change on October 17. That's because after the changes take effect, under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and...

UBS, BofA Syndicate Ventiv Health Buyout Financing For inChord.(Bank of America finances inChord Communications Inc. acquisition)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Somerset, N.J.-based Ventiv Health, Inc. is in the market with a $225 million credit facility to, in part, finance its buyout of inChord Communications, Inc. The BB-/Ba3-rated deal, being syndicated by joint lead arrangers UBS and Bank of...

Bear Stearns, CIBC Launch Tube City.
September 19, 2005... On September 12, Bear Stearns and CIBC World Markets launched syndication of a $250 million credit facility for Tube City LLC and International Mill Service. The deal is comprised of a $75 million, five-year revolver and a $175 million,...

Bank Duo Shops PBI Buyout Loan.
September 19, 2005... Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS held a bank meeting last week to launch syndication of a $323 million bank deal to, in part, finance the buyout of Primedia Inc.'s business information segment to Wasserstein & Co. The loan consists of three...

Pregis Deal Hits Market Via CSFB, Lehman.(Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. finance AEA Investors LLC's takeover of Pactiv Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Last week, Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers began pitching $135 million in US-denominated bank loans to finance AEA Investors LLC's acquisition of Pactiv Corp.'s North American and European protective and flexible packaging...

SR Technics Receives ABL Loan From GE Unit.(asset-based term loan facility from GE Commercial Aviation Services)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... SR Technics, a European-based provider of technical solutions for commercial aircraft, and its main investors 3i and Star Capital Partners, announced last week that SR Technics has received a $325 million asset-based term loan facility from GE...

Fidelity Launches New Fund That Invests 25% In Loans.(Fidelity Investments)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Fidelity Investments announced last Wednesday that it has launched the Fidelity Strategic Real Return Fund, a multi asset-class fund that will be structured around four sub-portfolios comprised of inflation-protected debt securities (30%),...

BofA Brings On Shaikh For Financial Sponsors Group.(BankAmerica Corp.)(Suhail Shaikh )(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Bank of America announced last Wednesday that it has hired Suhail Shaikh to join its financial sponsors corporate and investment banking group in New York as a managing director. Shaikh formerly worked at CIBC World Markets as an executive...

Merriman Appoints Helfat As Senior Advisor.(Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.'s Anthony B. Helfat)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Merriman Curham Ford & Co., a subsidiary of MCF Corp., announced last week that it has appointed Anthony B. Helfat as a senior advisor. Helfat, who has been a member of MCF's board of directors since February 2004, was formerly a managing...

Carlyle Taps Wyard To Co-Head CSP.(Carlyle Group L.P.'s Brett G. Wyard)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Last week, The Carlyle Group announced that Brett G. Wyard would be joining the private equity firm as managing director and co-head of Carlyle Strategic Partners, which invests in distressed debt and securities. Wyard joins Carlyle from...

SG CIB Boosts Latin American Debt Biz.(Ruth Rhei Rencricca appointed by SG Corporate and Investment Bank)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Ruth Rhei Rencricca is coming on board to join SG Corporate & Investment Banking's (SG CIB) debt syndicate in order to help bolster the firm's Latin American business. She will be tasked with managing the origination, structuring and...

McManus To Head Wachovia's CDO Research.(Brian McManus)(Wachovia Securities Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... Brian McManus, who founded the global collateralized debt obligation (CDO) group at Merrill Lynch, has left the firm to work as director and head of CDO research for Wachovia Securities, Wachovia said in a recent announcement. McManus will be...

GE CF's Media Unit Signs On Regan, Feinberg.(GE Commercial Finance appointed Thomas W. Regan and Jeffrey A. Feinberg )(Brief Article)
September 19, 2005... GE Commercial Finance's (GE CF) global media and communications division announced two new hires last week. The firm has appointed Thomas W. Regan as managing director of origination and Jeffrey A. Feinberg as senior vice president of...

Delta, Northwest Now Have Chance To Shine In Restructuring.
September 19, 2005... Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines, Inc. finally met their bankruptcy fate last Wednesday, leaving them now with the crucial dirty work of restructuring. For unsecured bondholders, though, there may not be a lot of light at the end of...

Ratings Movers: American Tower Climbs/Debt Weighs Cygnus Down.
September 19, 2005... American Tower LP's bank debt climbed to investment grade status on September 9 as Moody's Investors Service boosted its ratings on the wireless tower company's $400 million revolver, $300 million term loan A and $400 million term loan B to...

UK Pension Legislation Affects M&A And Restructuring Activity.
September 19, 2005... by Steven Pearson, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), London, and Peter Spratt, managing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Restructuring Services LLP, New York Consider this. Your big, new, leveraged buyout (LBO) deal is...

Executing Business Succession Plans With Leveraged Recaps.
September 19, 2005... by Ira Kreft, executive vice president, group manager at Bank of America Business Capital With the rise in valuations for many middle market companies in recent years, owners of privately held businesses are once again confronting the...

Aspect TL Trades Above 101 Despite Lowered Rating, Coupon.
September 26, 2005... Despite tighter pricing and a lower rating, the $475 million first lien term loan to support the merger of Aspect Communications and Concerto Software broke to trade above 101 last week. When Aspect Software, the name of the company formed...

Calpine Hype Causes Debt To Trade Down.
September 26, 2005... The hype stemming from complaints from some of Calpine Corp.'s bondholders that the company is misusing proceeds from an asset sale translated into a dip in trading levels for the company's bank and bond debt last week. The company's debt...

XM, Sirius: Darlings Despite Low Ratings.
September 26, 2005... In a fledgling business that demands high capital expenditures, the two companies that comprise the US satellite radio industry are receiving mixed messages from the markets and ratings agencies. That's because while the agencies are staunch in...

Texas Genco Seeks Amendment To Cut Term Loan Pricing.
September 26, 2005... Texas Genco hit the market last week with an amendment to cut pricing on its $1.625 billion term loan from Libor plus 200 basis points (bps) to Libor plus 175 bps with a step down provision to Libor plus 150 bps if the deal is upgraded to Ba1...

Delphi's Revolver Has $300M Available.
September 26, 2005... Last week, Delphi Corp. quashed market speculation about its available liquidity with a three-line statement in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, disclosing that it has $300 million undrawn on its $1.8 billion revolver. ...

MD Beauty Seeks Another Divi Recap.
September 26, 2005... Sole lead BNP Paribas is syndicating an additional $177.5 million in loans in connection with another dividend recapitalization deal for growing personal care company MD Beauty. The bank deal, of which syndication was launched September 16,...

CSFB, Deutsche Bank Sell Cendant LBO Loan.
September 26, 2005... Last Monday, joint lead arrangers Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank held a bank meeting to launch syndication of an $885 million credit facility that will back the leveraged buyout of Cendant Corp.'s market ing unit by Apollo...

TD Launches Persona Add-On.
September 26, 2005... In connection with its proposed acquisition of Northern Cablevision, Canadian cable company Persona Communications is in the market to add a seven-year, term loan C valued at $57 million onto its existing credit facility. Its existing facility...

Dresser Seeks Third SEC Filing Extension.
September 26, 2005... Dresser disclosed last week that it is seeking a third waiver from its senior secured credit facility's and unsecured term loan's lenders to extend its deadline to file financial statements for 2004 and the first and second quarters of 2005...

Angelo Gordon To Buy Crunch.
September 26, 2005... On September 19, Bally Total Fitness Corp. announced that it had agreed to sell its Crunch Fitness division for about $45 million to Angelo Gordon & Co. and Marc Tascher, an entrepreneur who once served as CEO of Town Sports International. ...

NewStar Starts New Fund.
September 26, 2005... Last week, NewStar Financial announced the formation of the NewStar Credit Opportunities Fund, which will invest in loans and other debt investments in the middle market, commercial real estate and structured product sectors. The $150 million...

S&P Rates Deerfield's Newest CLO.
September 26, 2005... Last week, Standard & Poor's assigned preliminary ratings to Deerfield Capital Management's newest collateralized loan obligation (CLO), Cumberland II CLO. The $302 million of class A notes were rated AAA, the $32 million of class B notes were...

LMA Revises Distressed Trading Documentation.
September 26, 2005... Last Monday, the Loan Market Association (LMA) announced that it had revised its documentation for trading distressed loans. LMA members will have a few weeks to review the revised documents on the organization's Web site, www.lma.eu.com,...

RBS Ramps Up London Loan Staff.
September 26, 2005... The Royal Bank of Scotland's corporate banking and financial markets division announced on September 15 that it has made six appointments to its structured loan origination team within the loan markets group in London. For its project...

CIT Appoints MacLellan As CIT Canada Prez.
September 26, 2005... CIT Group announced last week that it has appointed J. Daryl MacLellan to be president of CIT Canada. MacLellan will report to Rick Wolfert, vice chairman of commercial finance, and Tom Hallman, vice chairman of specialty finance. In addition...

Sulerzyski Heads Up Great Lakes For Key.
September 26, 2005... Key Community Bank announced last week that it has appointed Charles W. Sulerzyski to a newly created position as president of the Great Lakes region. Sulerzyski will be based out of Cleveland and he will report to George E. Emmons, Jr., Key...

Praesidian Appoints Daniel For LA Office.
September 26, 2005... Praesidian Capital Investors, a provider of mezzanine capital to middle market companies, announced last Thursday that it has hired Christopher T. Daniel as managing director to head the firm's office in Los Angeles. Daniel most recently...

Ratings Movers: Triad Climbs/Pliant Down On Raw Material Costs.
September 26, 2005... Triad Hospitals' bank debt inched closer to investment grade status last week as Standard & Poor's upgraded its $600 million revolver and $500 million term loan A to BB+ from BB citing the company's improving financial profile. S&P noted that...

Phoenix Quarterly Survey Shows Lenders Wary Of Autos.
September 26, 2005... A vast majority of lenders would be wary of providing a loan to an automotive supplier with exposure to the so-called "Big Three" auto manufacturers, according to a recent survey by Phoenix Management Services. A whopping 92% of...