High Yield Report articles from November 2003

High Yield Report archives from November 2003

Merger.(of Bank of America, FleetBoston)
November 3, 2003... While the colossal $43 billion merger of Bank of America and FleetBoston has been called BofA's high-stakes bet that its future lies in consumer banking, the deal will also enable BofA to win a larger share of the syndicated loan market and -...

Europe.
November 3, 2003... November is upon us, and we're rapidly approaching the time of year when the European high yield market usually starts thinking about winding down for the year and closing books ahead of the holiday season. This year, however, things are a...

Strategy.
November 3, 2003... It's no secret that bond prices tend to be more volatile than loan prices. But the results of a study to be released in a few weeks show that, in fact, the correlation between secondary bond and loan prices significantly increases immediately...

The Word Is.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2003... Not all of us are happy to know that the US economy is improving, that the corporate default rate has been on the decline and that there have been far fewer credit downgrades this year than there were last year. Not all of us are happy to have...

Credit.
November 3, 2003... Over the course of the year, investors have been encouraged to believe that the economy has turned and a rebound is underway. Numerous reports from all three rating agencies have fueled this belief, revealing statistical evidence to the effect...

Sector.
November 3, 2003... Over the past year, prices on high yield debt have sky-rocketed as a result of the market's massive rally. But that has had a knock-on effect on the distressed debt market, as high yield investors reaching for yield further down the credit...

Profile.
November 3, 2003... Getting into Deutsche Asset Management's (DeAM) high yield portfolio takes some doing - so stringent is the credit analysis performed by the high yield team on each potential security that it might be easier to gain entry to an exclusive...

PFL t.(intense investor demand for Ondeo Nalco's institutional loan)
November 3, 2003... Intense investor demand for Ondeo Nalco's $1.1 billion institutional loan caused the lead arranger group to enlarge the mammoth tranche even more last week. The seven-year loan was pumped up to $1.3 billion, while the $1.8 billion bond package...

US Company News.
November 10, 2003... Investors who are looking for airline exposure but are concerned about the risky nature of the industry have either stuck to shorter dated paper or moved into EETCs. But the world's fourth largest airline, Northwest Airlines, is looking to...

Restructuring.
November 10, 2003... Sixteen months after it filed the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in US history, MCI's (formerly WorldCom) reorganization plan has been approved by the bankruptcy court. MCI, which plans to emerge from bankruptcy in the near future,...

Europe.(potential of European middle market)
November 10, 2003... Two weeks ago, HYR reported on the potential of the European middle market as a source for new high yield issuance. Last week, German technology group Jenoptik AG (Ba3/BB-/BB) priced the first high yield deal from a public middle market...

The Word Is.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The announcement of the upcoming $49 billion merger between Bank Of America and FleetBoston Financial, which HYR reported on in its 11/3 issue, has opened up the prospects for a sudden burst of M&A activity. Several other multi-billion...

Sector Analysis.(pharmaceutical industry)
November 10, 2003... In a move that signals the rising prominence of generic drug-making in today's marketplace, major generic pharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries recently announced its plans to acquire another generic drug-making conglomerate,...

US/Europe.
November 10, 2003... If NTL had ears, they would be burning right now from the flurry of rumors flying around the market. The UK cable TV company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in the US in January, is looking to raise $1.37 billion in a rights...

Profile.
November 10, 2003... There has been no dearth of work for restructuring firms over the past few years, and Traxi LLC, a New York-based restructuring and advisory boutique, has taken full advantage of this. Now, as the US economy continues to improve and more...

Market Buzz.
November 10, 2003... HYR hears that Lehman Brothers was pitching its Britax PIKs to investors last week. Sources suggested that the firm might be looking to get rid of them at the top of the market, while appetite is strong. The PIKS will return 18%, but only...

US Company News.
November 10, 2003... After a hectic year, October was an unusually quiet month for high yield issuance, and eager market players had little outlet for the vast amounts of cash they have yet on hand to invest. But there are deals in the pipeline, sources say,...

News.
November 10, 2003... The ink had barely dried on the recent $3 billion bridge loan backing the $16.4 billion merger of Anthem and WellPoint Health Networks - the largest managed-care merger in five years - when buyers of high yield bonds started asking about the...

Case Study.
November 10, 2003... When Wilbur Ross, chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co. LLC, picked 360networks from the 80 or so telecom companies that defaulted between 1996 and 2002, its was by no means a random selection. The turnaround financier knew exactly what he was...

Sector Analysis.
November 17, 2003... President George Bush's decision whether or not to lift current tariffs on certain types of imported steel has broad implications for companies in the steel sector, which have clearly benefited from this protectionism over the past 18 months....

Europe.
November 17, 2003... A year and a half ago, WestLB all but disbanded its high yield department following a huge reorganization of its global financial markets division. It left in place what an official spokesman called "an appropriate high yield operation,"...

US.
November 17, 2003... This year, bonus season is going to mean a happy holiday for salespeople in the high yield bond markets - unless they happen to work for a foreign bank. The boom in high yield this year translated into huge budget increases for most Street...

The Word Is.
November 17, 2003... Is this a sign that times have changed? Perhaps, for Standard & Poor's downgrade last week of Ford to BBB- from BBB did not really raise the Fallen Angel Fear that such a move might have stirred up last year at this time. High yield...

CDOs.
November 17, 2003... Investors in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) are moving in larger numbers toward a newer method of analyzing collateral for high yield debt and leveraged loan structures. Until now, investors had been clinging to ratings-based...

Company News.
November 17, 2003... Accounting issues, however small they might be, make investors very nervous. Last week, Parmalat, the leading global fluid milk processor based in Italy, dominated headlines and secondary market activity in Europe following concern from...

Opinion.
November 17, 2003... It was just after daybreak that steamy April morning in 1975 when the tanks came rumbling down L Dun Avenue. As they shattered the huge iron gates and Viet Cong troops poured through the Norodom (Presidential) Palace, you could hear the sick...

MARKET BUZZ.
November 17, 2003... Last week, WL Ross & Co. LLC announced its latest corporate purchase, Burlington Industries (previously approved by US Bankruptcy Judge Newsome) and the simultaneous sale of Lees Carpets to Mohawk Industries, Inc. CIT Business Credit, Inc. has...

HSBC Hires O'Malley to Head Syn. Finance.(Brief Article)
November 17, 2003... HSBC Securities has hired Mary-Ellen O'Malley to head its syndicated finance group. She will report to Jim Brucia, managing director and head of North American debt finance, and will have functional reporting to Richard Cartledge, HSBC's...

Syndicated Loans.
November 17, 2003... The ongoing saga of too much liquidity confronting too little supply continues, with the latest development allowing borrowers to consolidate tranches to streamline their deals and slash pricing dramatically. A deal in the market last week...

US company news.
November 24, 2003... The steady flow of rescue financings this year tested lenders' mettle once again last week, and found them exuberantly committing to a $700 million term loan for Mission Energy Holdings International, despite only a week-long commitment period...

US.
November 24, 2003... Is it wrong to look for the bad in a market that has performed so well this year? Perhaps, but for the sake of preserving tradition, we felt it was necessary to find and name the turkey of the year. In actual fact, finding a turkey proved...

EUROPE.
November 24, 2003... European bankers are engaging in a mad dash to get deals to market before it starts shutting down for the holidays. In fact, it was rather a case of the "London bus syndrome"- no deals had priced for some time, and then last week they all...

The word is.
November 24, 2003... Once again the holiday season is upon us, and many of us this side of the Atlantic are looking forward to spending a long weekend with our families celebrating Thanksgiving. America's first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 by the English...

Europe.
November 24, 2003... The European High Yield Association held their third annual dinner last Wednesday at The Millennium, Grosvenor Square, London. Between 250 and 300 bankers, lawyers, analysts, investors turned up for the event - the largest attendance yet. ...

Credit.
November 24, 2003... Issuers will be hoping that the high yield market continues to perform strongly well into next year, given that a chunky $27 billion of high yield debt is scheduled to mature over the next 15 months, according to a recent study by Moody's...

Profile.
November 24, 2003... History doesn't exactly repeat itself, but new eras do closely imitate periods past. This is true even of credit market history, says Howard Tiffen, managing director of Van Kampen Investments and director of senior loans, and he ought to...

Market Buzz.
November 24, 2003... William Healey has been building his team at his new investment management company, Picus Capital Management LLP. Charlotte Coltman has joined the team as an analyst and fund manager reporting to Healey. Previously Coltman worked as a high...

Syndicated loans.
November 24, 2003... Following the deluge of market chatter earlier this month regarding the second repricing of Moore Wallace's institutional loan just weeks before it announced it was being acquired by RR Donnelley, it appears that the company's bank debt will be...

Syndicated loans.
November 24, 2003... The $120 million, Canadian dollar-denominated credit for North American Construction Group had blown out in syndication by the time the company's $175 million in US dollar-denominated notes were set to price late last week, said a banker...