High Yield Report articles from August 2008

High Yield Report archives from August 2008

Disturbing In Hawthorne's Time, Disturbing Today.(rumor)
August 11, 2008... The scenario: A New York banker cheats on his wife with a married woman in London. Five years later, after the affair has ended and been confessed, and the man has rebuilt his marital relationship, the London woman's now ex-husband launches an...

The Olympics: An Inflection Point In Leveraged Finance?
August 11, 2008... Many of us in leveraged finance will no doubt spend some time this month watching the 24/7 coverage of the Olympics in Beijing, especially as it appears that August may qualify as the slowest month the leveraged finance markets have seen in 18...

Can't Clone Cash: Banks Shop Debt For Bio Co.
August 11, 2008... A bank consortium is arranging a $2.4 billion credit facility for Invitrogen, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based medical technologies company that makes kits for cloning genes and analyzing data. The debt will help fund the company's $6.7 billion...

Two Captains Leave Powerhouse JPMorgan.(Naseem Haffar and John Abate leave JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
August 11, 2008... JPMorgan, a powerhouse in leveraged finance, has lost two captains on its loan desk. Naseem Haffar, head of sales, and John Abate, head of distressed securities and loan trading, have exited the firm at a time when many from the sell side are...

RBC Pulls Allis-Chalmers Bond Offering.
August 11, 2008... The Royal Bank of Canada last week pulled $350 million in senior notes due 2018 for Allis-Chalmers Energy, a Houston-based oil and gas drilling company. The bonds were scheduled to price Thursday but were pulled late Wednesday. Calls to...

GECF Rolls With The Changes In European Lev Finance.
August 11, 2008... When Tom Greco, a 13-year General Electric veteran took charge of GE Commercial Finance's European leveraged finance business in January, the firm was well on its way to becoming an important player in the lead arranger business. Since...

Cha-Ching! Issuers Refinance With Pricey Debt.
August 11, 2008... It's a mad, mad, mad, mad economic world, and the debt markets are now seeing companies exchanging less expensive high yield loans and bonds for new, more expensive bonds. While some say this effort is mostly bank driven, and others say it is...

Market Not Enjoying Its Summer Break.
August 11, 2008... August is considered the slowest month of the year in the business world, since many people take vacations and seek respite from the summer heat. And this year's economy serves as an even greater impetus to take a break and get out of town....

BofA, Scotia Ready $2.9B Facility For Ashland.
August 18, 2008... Bank of America and Scotia Capital are arranging a $2.9 billion credit facility for Ashland, a Covington, Ky.-based chemical company that makes resins, polymers and adhesives used in cars. The debt will help fund the company's $3.3 billion...

Labor Day Offers No Magic Remedy, Not This Year.
August 18, 2008... In past years, market participants have tended to look to September as a month of promise, a time when the markets come back from their summer holiday, tanned and jazzed for a busy fall. This year, not so much. "I'm not hearing about a lot...

PMs Pick And Choose On The Secondary.
August 18, 2008... With the primary high yield bond market virtually comatose, portfolio managers who haven't taken off for the beach continue to scour the secondary market for deals. "There's a lot out there. It takes all day just to begin putting a list...

Midmarket Cos Pick Odd Time To Lever Up.
August 18, 2008... Credit is tight, revenues are falling and prices are skyrocketing. Sounds like the perfect time to lever up, right? As crazy as that seems, that is exactly what some midmarket companies are doing. In March, the average total leverage on a...

Former State Street PM Joins PPM America.(Scott Richards joins PPM America Inc.)(Uno Chicago Grill negotiates with bondholders regarding bond payment)(Royal Bank of Scotland sells $8 billion of leveraged loans to GSO Capital)
August 18, 2008... Scott Richards, formerly a high yield portfolio manager at Boston's State Street Global Advisors, has joined PPM America in Chicago. Richards left State Street in June, according to a source at the firm. A spokeswoman there declined to comment...

Atkinson Leads RBC Charge Into Europe.(Nick Atkinson, Royal Bank of Canada)(Interview)
August 18, 2008... In early March, RBC took a big step forward into a sagging European leveraged finance market, picking up where its peer CIBC left off and hiring the European leveraged finance team that CIBC had let go in December 2007. Under the direction...

HY Investors Waiting Out Doldrums.
August 18, 2008... High yield bond investors are waiting out the summer, keeping the market relatively lethargic and semi-somnolent. Observers describe the high yield world as essentially bifurcated, with some bonds performing well, but with a large distressed...