Deerfield Capital Management has priced the notes for its latest collateralized loan obligation, Forest Creek, after increasing the deal from $300 million to $325 million. There was across-the-board oversubscription on the vehicle, which is now two-thirds ramped up, according to a source. Jonathan Trutter, Deerfield's cio, declined to comment on the transaction, referring calls to officials at underwriter Bear Stearns. Ira Wagner, a senior managing director at Bear Stearns, did not return calls by press time. Deerfield has $2.3 billion in loan assets under management.
Price talk on the approximately $230 million triple-A tranche for Forest Creek was LIBOR plus 55 basis points (LMW, 2/2), but it could not be confirmed if the deal priced at these levels or what the final size of the tranches are. The CLO team is composed of Dale Burrow, senior portfolio manager, Dan Hattori, portfolio manager, Matthew Stouffer, portfolio manager, Mark Wittnebel, senior portfolio manager and Aaron Peck, a distressed debt specialist. The team's CLO track record dates back to 1999 with the launch of Olympic Funding Trust, according to a Standard & Poor's report on the firm. Olympic Funding and the Castle Harbor CLO (vintage 2000) transaction are both private deals with a SERVES structure. The outstanding cash-flow loan CDOs are Sequils-Cumberland I, Rosemont CLO and Bryn Mawr CLO, named after streets around Chicago, a source said.