High Yield Report articles from February 2007

High Yield Report archives from February 2007

EUROPE: SocGen Sharpens Focus On Lev Finance.(Societe Generale Acceptance N.V.)
February 5, 2007... Societe Generale is the latest European Bank to ramp up and reorganize in an effort to sharpen its focus on leverage finance. The firm recently announced the creation of a new division, the Capital Raising and Financing Division, which includes...

PIPELINE: Delta Air Lines Flying Solo With New Exit Facility?
February 5, 2007... Delta Air Lines in on the runway and awaiting the signal for takeoff from bankruptcy. The carrier announced last Tuesday that is had secured a $2.5 billion credit facility for its exit plan for spring 2007, and the Official Creditors Committee...

SECTOR FOCUS: Oil & Gas Companies Keep Pumping New Issues.
February 5, 2007... Though this year promises to be a tougher environment for oil and gas companies, with rising costs and lower prices slimming down their margins, the market will likely be a stable place for debt investors to put their abundant capital. Steady...

Market Buzz: Bank Of Ireland Prunes Leveraged Finance Team.(UBS AG appointed Mark Gallagher)(Seneca Capital Management changed its name to SCM Advisors LLC)
February 5, 2007... Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking recently announced that members of its London-based leveraged finance team have left the group, and a number of senior acquisition bankers have been recruited to move the bank toward larger U.K.-focused lead...

NEWS: Yankee Candle Lights Up $525M In High Yield.
February 5, 2007... Investors smelled the smoke from another LBO deal last week, as Yankee Candle shone brightly with a $525 million bond offering on Thursday. The issuance met with strong investor demand. The company priced $325 million in senior notes due...

NEWS: Europe's High Yield Market Fires Up.(Grohe (Germany), Lecta Group and Orascom Telecom Holding SAE)
February 5, 2007... While leveraged loans dominated the landscape across the pond in 2006, the high yield bond market seems to be heating up, with a new slate of deals garnering increased attention from investors. Grohe, a Hemer, Germany-based bathroom and...

Gainers & Losers: Abitibi/Calpine.(Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. and Bowater Canadian Ltd.)(Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.)(Delta Air Lines Inc.)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Abitibi Consolidated settled near the top of the gainers list last week after it announced a cross-border merger with Bowater to create North America's largest newsprint producer. After the merger, the new company, which will be named...

Market wrap: Refinancing Drives Continued Issuances.
February 12, 2007... Investors dug into a smorgasbord of new issuances last Wednesday, with offerings from no fewer than six high yield companies so varied as to provide everything from space satellites to kitchen sinks. Refinancings were the order of the day,...

PIPELINE: MacDermid Mixing Up New $925 Million Debt Potion.
February 12, 2007... The specialty chemical sector is attractive to debt investors as well as private equity and strategic buyers. While the companies vary, they are generally operationally sound, with consistent cash flows and steady demand. The credit ratings of...

PROFILE: Credit Suisse's Amine Leads Through Innovation.(James Amine)(Biography)
February 12, 2007... Not many people know that James Amine, Credit Suisse's London-based co-head of global leveraged finance, started his professional life as an attorney. "I spent five years at a law firm in New York, working on a lot of hostile takeover...

Market Buzz: Historic LBO Deal Seeks $32B In Debt.(Blackstone Group L.P., Equity Office Properties Trust)(Credit Suisse Group)(Barclays Capital Inc.)
February 12, 2007... BREAKING NEWS - Making history in the leveraged buyout market, the Blackstone Group won its bid for Chicago-based real estate developer Equity Office Properties Trust last Wednesday night. The $39 billion buyout is the largest in history, and...

NEWS: TerreStar Launches $450M In HY With Satellites In Mind.(TerreStar Networks)
February 12, 2007... Space, the final frontier. These were the issuances of the company TerreStar Networks. Its mission: to launch an integrated satellite and terrestrial network and seek new customer bases, to boldly go where no such network has gone before. And...

Gainers & Losers: Wolverine/Lear.(Wolverine Tube Inc., ArvinMeritor GmbH, Lear Corp.)(Brief article)
February 12, 2007... Wolverine Tube hit the top of the gainers list last week, as it continued to feel the positive effects of the announcement of its recapitalization plan earlier this month. In addition, an investor group comprised of Plainfield Special...

Deal update: All Bets Are On For Harrah's Debt Deal.
February 19, 2007... The stakes are high for Harrah's Entertainment, but with no other offers on the table and a credit structure in the works, it looks as if the buyout of the casino company by Apollo Management LLC and Texas Pacific Group is in the cards. This...

PIPELINE: Blackstone Chows Down On Pinnacle Foods Group.
February 19, 2007... Private equity titan The Blackstone Group has been chomping its way through the corporate credit market and issuing new debt to fund its splurge at the buyout buffet. And this time, the group has a craving for Aunt Jemima and Duncan Hines,...

CASE STUDY: Lear Deal Leaves Bondholders Unprotected.(Carl Icahn plans to acquired Lear Corp.)
February 19, 2007... In Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear is a tragic figure who spurns his heirs and is brought down by his own misjudgment. While today's auto supply market is fortunately not as violent and dramatic as Shakespeare's pre-Roman England, there is still...

NEWS: Mixed Messages on Equity Office Properties.(Blackstone Group L.P. acquired Equity Office Properties Trust)
February 19, 2007... Following its buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, The Blackstone Group reportedly sold off $14.6 billion of the REIT's holdings. Under the logical assumption that those proceeds would be used to pay down the original $32 billion in debt...

NEWS: Execs Form Six Degrees From BMO Separation.(Six Degrees Capital Management, BMO Capital Markets)
February 19, 2007... Hoping to capitalize on the various structured finance growth opportunities beyond securitization, eight ABS senior executives have left BMO Capital Markets to launch Six Degrees Capital Management (SDCM). The Chicago-based company, which...

NEWS: Glass Company Vitro Goes All Bonds With $1B Issuance.
February 19, 2007... Glass provider Vitro SAB de CV priced $1 billion in high yield bonds recently, with strong investor demand causing the company to increase the offering and make it exclusively bonds. Vitro priced its issuance in two tranches: $700 million...

Market Buzz: Moody's Delivers Downgrade To Uno Restaurants.
February 19, 2007... In a move that affected approximately $142 million of debt securities, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Uno Restaurants Holdings, Corp. last week. The ratings agency lowered Uno's $142 million in 10% senior secured notes to Caa2 from Caa1...

Gainers & Losers: Liberty/Delco Remy.(Liberty Media Corp. made gains and agreed to sell stakes in Time Warner and CBS Corp.)(Pinnacle Foods Group was also a gainer and it acquired Blackstone Group)(WCI Communities market share)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Liberty Media Corp. made major gains last week, after it agreed to sell stakes in Time Warner and CBS Corp. According to reports, Liberty Media will return about $60 million shares, or one-third of what it owns in the company, to Time Warner in...

Commercial Finance - Q&A: The Current Lending Landscape.(Tom Quindlen of Commercial finance companies)(Interview)
February 26, 2007... Less than a year has passed since GE Commercial Finance expanded its corporate lending business, and already the group is seeing tangible results. Last April, it brought its corporate asset-based lending, cash-flow lending and structured...

EURO PIPELINE: Europe Awaits Billion Euro Deal From Tata Steel.(Corus Group PLC)
February 26, 2007... The acquisition of a British steel company by an Indian rival could bring billions of new debt to the European market. Investors are waiting for word on the structure of the deal, which could price this summer. Existing bondholders, pension...

FEATURE: Breathing Dragon? Asia's CDO Potential.(collateralized debt obligations)
February 26, 2007... Los Angeles-based asset management firm Trust Company of the West - the world's largest CDO manager - is preparing to become a classroom of sorts. In the coming months, TCW will open its doors to a group of Chinese investors interested in...

PROFILE: Loomis' Eagan Thinks Outside Junk Box.(Matt Eagan of Loomis, Sayles and Company L.P.)
February 26, 2007... Being able to adapt is key for Matt Eagan. As vice president and portfolio manager for Loomis, Sayles & Co., Eagan oversees the Loomis Sayles High Income Fund and is an associate portfolio manager of the Loomis Sayles Investment Grade Bond...

NEWS: Kinder Morgan: Kinder Than Your Average Buyout.
February 26, 2007... Built from natural gas assets of the ill-fated Enron Corp., Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) has grown into one of the largest energy suppliers in North America. The Houston-based company owns or operates approximately 43,000 miles of oil and natural...

MARKET BUZZ: SunTrust Loses CDO Team In Face Of Big Plans.(Furniture Brands International Inc.'s securities are undervalued)(Credit Suisse Group appointed Mark Pierce)(Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking appointed Arnaud Achour )(collateral debt obligations)
February 26, 2007... SunTrust Robinson Humphrey's CDO team has left the company, despite the firm's plans for growth in the sector in 2007 and a media push to promote it. The Atlanta-based bank lost 13 members of its CDO team, including its head James Bennison. The...

Gainers & Losers: Movie Gallery/El Paso.(XM Satellite Radio Inc., Westlake Chemical Corp.)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... Movie Gallery had a great week last week, as news broke that it expects $900 million to refinance its entire senior secured credit facility. Arranged by Goldman Sachs, the proceeds from the financing will also be used to replace existing...