Bank Loan Report articles from September 2006

Bank Loan Report archives from September 2006

Newly Approved Pension Laws Cause Loan Market To Stir.
September 11, 2006... With the newly endorsed pension legislation securely in place, stricter funding requirements may cause some companies that have had an easy time to feel a credit crunch, market pundits say. Although most businesses will not feel the full...

Ample Mezzanine Debt Continues In Europe.
September 11, 2006... A bumper E1 billion mezzanine tranche for financing Warburg Pincus and Cinvens acquisition of Dutch cable companies Casema and Essent Kabelcom a deal that will also merge those entities with Multikabel and create a cable giant has once again...

Robust Market Despite Rate Standstill.(Federal Reserve short-term interest rate hikes)
September 11, 2006... The recent lull in The Federal Reserve short-term interest rate hikes may be nothing but a brief hiatus, according to market pundits. After two years of continual rate hikes, the Federal Reserve has taken a step back from interest rates,...

Bank Duo Shops Cinemark Acquisition.
September 11, 2006... Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley launched a senior secured credit facility last Wednesday, consisting of a $150 million revolver and $1.12 billion term loan for Cinemark USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cinemark. Proceeds from the new...

GS, MS And JPM In The Market For IPC.(Goldman Sachs)(Morgan Stanley)(JP Morgan)(IPC Acquisition Corp.)(Silver Lake Partners )
September 11, 2006... Lead arranger Goldman Sachs, along with Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, launched a $635 million credit facility last Thursday, including a $50 million revolver, $415 million term loan B and a $170 million second lien term loan. Proceeds from the...

Sedgwick Adds To Debt For CMI Purchase.
September 11, 2006... Sedgwick CMS Holdings, is bulking up its senior secured credit facility arranged by Bank of America, increasing the amount by $150 million to $505.5 million in order to finance the acquisition of CompManagement (CMI). The new debt package will...

Babson Taps Prince For Structured Credit.(Babson Capital Management)(Jeffrey T. Prince join as the managing director)(Brief article)
September 11, 2006... Babson Capital Management recently announced the hire of Jeffrey T. Prince who will join the firms structured credit team as a managing director. Prince will be responsible for CDO security analysis and selection, as well as CDO portfolio...

GMAC Announces Shea for CF.(Commercial Finance)(Jerry Shea will join the companys commercial services division as a business development officer )(Brief article)
September 11, 2006... GMAC Commercial Finance (GMAC CF) recently announced that Jerry Shea will join the companys commercial services division as a business development officer in Charlotte, N.C., where he will play a role in servicing clients and expanding GMAC CFs...

Moodys Implements Ratings Change, Publishes CLO Request for Comment.(collateralized loan obligation)
September 11, 2006... Anticipating full execution in the market this month, Moodys Investors Service recently published the final methodology for loss-given-default assessments (LGDs) and probability-of-default ratings (PDR), as well as implementing the methodology...

LSTA Releases Loan Handbook.(Loan Syndications and Trading Association)(Brief article)
September 11, 2006... The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) released The Handbook of Loan Syndications And Trading today, providing an expansive overview of the syndicated loan market including details regarding the evolution of corporate loan...

Market Participants Form Loan Tech Group.(Open Loan Technology Standards Working Group)(Brief article)
September 11, 2006... Loan market participants and technology providers announced the formation of Open Loan Technology Standards Working Group (OLTS) last Tuesday, an industry organization aiming to expand the multi-trillion dollar commercial loan market by...

Ratings Movers: Aquila Ratings Climb, While Novelis Drops Down.
September 11, 2006... Electric and natural gas utility Aquila saw its credit ratings rise, as Standard & Poors pushed up its $110 million revolver and $220 million 364-day term loan to a B from a B-. The rating agency also upgraded Aquilas $300 million multi draw...

Expanding DIP Facilities Prompt New Ratings Assessments.
September 18, 2006... A recent expansion in rating assessments for debtor-in-possession (DIP) loans has led Fitch Ratings to call upon investors to pay closer attention to these increasingly larger and more complex debt facilities. "Initial payments to essential...

SME CLO Volume Rising In Europe.(Small and Medium-sized Enterprise )(collateralized loan obligations)
September 18, 2006... European securitization of SME financing has experienced strong growth since 1999. SME transactions reached 5.3% of total European ABS issuance in 2005 and in year-to-date represent 2.5% of Euro asset-backed volume. In a report last week,...

NYLIM Continues Diversified Approach.(New York Life Investment Management)
September 18, 2006... New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), an asset management firm headquartered in New York, follows a diverse multi-asset class platform in order to maximize returns for its investors. Formed in 2000 as a subsidiary of New York Life to...

Bank Trio Leads PETCO Acquisition.
September 18, 2006... Joint lead arrangers Credit Suisse, Bank of America and Wells Fargo recently announced syndication of an $850 million credit facility for PETCO Animal Supplies, set to launch on Sept. 26, 2006. The new facility, consisting of a $200 million...

CS In The Market For Boart Longyear.(Credit Suisse Group, Macquarie Bank Ltd.)
September 18, 2006... Sole lead arranger Credit Suisse launched a $1.395 billion credit facility last Tuesday, for the buy in of Boart Longyear by Macquarie Group. The new facility consists of a $125 million five-year revolver, a $320 million one-and-a-half year...

Sheridan Proposes Refinancing.(Sheridan Healthcare)(Bank of America)(Brief article)
September 18, 2006... Sheridan Healthcare recently announced its intention to refinance its current credit facility arranged by Bank of America. The new debt package, consisting of a $50 million revolver, a $273 million term loan including a $40 million delayed draw...

Lender Group to Fund Time Warner Acquisition.
September 18, 2006... Time Warner Telecom is negotiating with a group of lenders for a debt financing package including a $100 million revolver and $600 million term loan for Time Warner Telecom Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Telecom. Proceeds...

Bank Duo Shops Stolle Machinery.(secured credit facility for Stolle Machinery )
September 18, 2006... Joint lead arrangers Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse launched a $200 million senior secured credit facility for Stolle Machinery last Thursday, according to a source close to the deal. The debt package, consisting of a $25 million five-year...

Kirkland & Ellis Taps Basta For Restructuring.(Reorganization and restructuring)(Brief article)
September 18, 2006... Kirkland & Ellis announced that Paul Basta has joined the firm as a partner in the New York office. Basta joins Kirkland's restructuring practice from the business finance and restructuring department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York. ...

Loan Default Rates Continue to Drop In August.
September 18, 2006... Default rates on loans are still apparently on hold, as yet again, there were no Moody's-rated loans in default for the month of August. Three unrated loans did default last month, including Radnor Holdings Corp. and two European-based...

Ratings Movers: Burger King Adds Value, OpBiz Down On Spending.
September 18, 2006... Fast food giant Burger King Corp. "had it their way" last week when Standard & Poor's bumped up the company's debt rating, raising its $150 million revolver, $250 million term loan A and $1.1 billion term loan B from a B+ to a BB-. The recovery...

Churchill Acquires CDO Manager.(Churchill Pacific Asset Management)(Brief article)
September 18, 2006... Churchill Financial Holdings recently announced plans to acquire CDO manager Centre Pacific - a move that will create another player in the rapidly growing middle market loan CLO space. The number of middle market CLO managers has tripled in...

Loan Volume Remains Robust As High Yield Bonds Drop Off.
September 25, 2006... The combination of historically low interest rates, an active M&A market and multibillion-dollar buyouts has caused leveraged financing to soar over the last couple years. But what's often lost in the frenzy is how the split between leveraged...

Euro Market Becomes More American.(European)
September 25, 2006... European bankers saw their summer holidays shortened this year, as new deals in the white-hot leveraged loan market kept coming right up to the end of August. But as the European leveraged loan market becomes more Americanized, the tighter...

Utility M&A Indicates Strength of Sector.
September 25, 2006... With the recent expansion of both traditional coal plants and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants in the US totaling 25,031 plants announced year-to-date, it's difficult to ignore the financial surge in the utility sector....

CS And GS Commit To Finance MediMedia LBO.(Credit Suisse)(Goldman Sachs)(Vestar Capital Partners L.P.)(MediMedia USA Inc.)
September 25, 2006... Joint lead arrangers Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, have committed to a $250 million credit facility for the buyout of MediMedia, by Vestar Capital Partners, from private equity consortium Cinven, The Carlyle Group and Apax Partners. The...

Morgan And Credit Suisse Commit To Dresser.(secured credit facility)
September 25, 2006... Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse have provided a commitment for $935 million to Dresser, in order to refinance the company's existing senior secured credit facility, senior unsecured term loan and 9.375% senior subordinated notes due 2011,...

Goldman Sachs In The Market For United Subcontractors.( secured credit facility for United Subcontractors )(Brief article)
September 25, 2006... Lead arranger Goldman Sachs recently launched a $550 million senior secured credit facility for United Subcontractors (USI). The debt package, consisting of a $15 million, first lien prefunded synthetic letter of credit, a $30 million revolver,...

Suntrust Shops Crawford And Co.(Broadspire Management Services)(Brief article)
September 25, 2006... Suntrust launched a $310 million credit facility for Crawford and Co., last Thursday, according to an investor. The debt package, consisting of a $50 million five-year revolver, a $235 million seven-year term loan B and a $25 million five-year...

BofA And JPM Arranging For Insight.(Bank of America)
September 25, 2006... Bank of America and JPMorgan are in the market with a $2.575 billion credit facility consisting of a $350 million revolver, a $500 million term loan A, and a $1.725 billion term loan B for Insight Midwest Holdings (Midwest Holdings). The...

Distressed Debt Falls, Weakest Links Rise in US.(telecommunications and automotive sectors)
September 25, 2006... In a report released last week, Standard & Poor's noted that the proportion of distressed credits in the US - which the agency defines as speculative-grade-rated issues that have option-adjusted spreads of more than 1,000 bps - declined to 3.1%...

RBS Ships Hamilton To The US.(leveraged finance market)(Brief article)
September 25, 2006... RBS is sending its global leveraged finance head Euan Hamilton to the US to oversee RBS's growth in the leveraged finance market. He will continue to work with Ron Kantowitz, who has successfully led the development of US leveraged finance...

Ratings Movers: Carter Up With OshKosh, Targus Profit Drops.(William Carter Co.)(OshKosh B'Gosh)(Targus Group)
September 25, 2006... The William Carter Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Carter's, sized up well last week when Moody's Investors Service bumped up the company's credit rating, upgrading the $500 million term loan B from a B1 to a Ba3. The rating agency explained...