Securitization People and Markets

Bear Stearns is looking to add a fixed-income trader to its London proprietary trading desk. The position is newly created. Bear Stearns is looking for someone to trade European government securities and other fixed-income products. A firm spokesman says Bear Stearns is not planning a hiring spree, but simply looking for a talented trader. The desk is headed by Tim Bass, who works with one other trader.

Bank of America and Bear Stearns last Thursday launched syndication of a $225 million credit for Pinnacle Entertainment. The proceeds will finance the gaming company's construction and development of a hotel and casino resort in Lake Charles, La. The debt package includes a five-year, $125 million term loan and a four-year, $100 million revolver. Bankers familiar with the deal would not indicate pricing, but one banker noted that it would be in line with Pinnacle's BB rating. He added that total leverage would start at 5.8 times, with senior leverage below two times for the life of the facility. B of A and Bear Stearns officials declined to comment.

Mike Weston, Morgan Stanley's London-based head of global head of debt syndicate, has resigned from the firm to take a break from the industry, according to a firm insider. The insider says Weston maybe interested in returning to his native New Zealand. His duties will be assumed by Raj Dhanda and Michael Heaney, who will serve as co-heads of global debt origination. They report to Walid Chammah, co-head of global capital markets. Previously, Dhanda had been head of U.S. head of debt syndication and Heaney was head of European debt syndication. A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment.

Morgan Stanley's corporate bond sales group has seen a number of recent changes, according to firm officials. Steve Penwell, a managing director who became the firm's North American head of credit sales last year (BW, 1/27), has moved to a client marketing role at the firm. He did not return a call, and his exact duties could not be determined. Mike Donoghue, the head of cash sales, and Suzanne Cain, the head of derivatives sales, both of whom had reported to Penwell, are now reportedly New York co-heads of credit sales, effectively eliminating a layer of management, according to one of the firm officials. Calls to Penwell, Donoghue, Cain and Stefano Corsi, global head of fixed-income sales, were not returned.

Deutsche Bank,Citibank and Morgan Stanley pitched Moore Corp.'s $850 million acquisition facility to investors last week with a $500 million "B" loan priced at LIBOR plus 23/ 4%. The deal backs Moore's $1.3 billion merger with Wallace Computer Services to form one of the world's largest providers of print management services.

Bank of America shifted the tranche sizes and juiced up pricing and security for its $350 million facility for Central Parking. The seven-year "B" piece is now set at $175 million with a spread of 523 basis points over LIBOR with a 25 basis point upfront fee, according to a banker. The "B" was formerly $150 million and priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 4%. The five-year revolver is now $175 million with an unchanged LIBOR plus 21/ 4% rate. The revolver was previously $200 million. Additionally, the deal is secured by collateral now, rather than stock secured with a springing lien as it was originally. A B of A official declined to comment.

Advent Capital, a New York-based money manager with $1.7 billion mostly in convertible bonds, has hired Les Levi to manage and expand its high-yield asset pool. Levi left J.P. Morgan Securities late last year. He was a managing director focusing on high-yield bonds and loan origination. Prior to that, he ran the firm's high-yield telecom and media research group. Levi says he took the newly created position to work on the buy-side. He reports jointly to Odell Lambroza, a senior portfolio manager, and Tracy Maitland, Advent's ceo and founder. A call to Lambroza was not returned.

Advest Inc., a regional brokerage and investment-banking subsidiary of The MONY Group, has hired Rich Musumeci, to the new position of managing director and co-head of credit trading. The hire is the first part of a plan to significantly expand the firm's fixed-income business, says Joe Blair, executive v.p. and head of Advest's capital markets group. "It's a desire to expand something that's working well," he says, adding that revenues from the business were up 60% and profits by over 100% last year.

Investors last week jumped all over the fat coupon on a $200 million, three-year "B" loan for CITGO Petroleum. The deal was priced at LIBOR plus 51/ 4%, a big hike from the spread of about 100 basis points over LIBOR for previous facilities. The deal closed in three days and is already allocated. The Credit Suisse First Boston-led deal accompanies a $550 million bond deal and a $200 million accounts receivable facility. The stiff pricing boost is most likely a result of all the uncertainty in the market over Venezuela, said Thomas Coleman, senior v.p. at Moody's Investors Service. "The market is extracting a huge premium," he stated. The company's cash flow has been affected directly and indirectly because of the oil strikes and political shakeups in Venezuela.