A $25 million chunk of Crown Cork & Seal traded at 86 last week, according to dealers. Goldman Sachs is believed to be one of the players in the name. A fallen angel once shunned, the company seems to have moved beyond the stigma of its costly asbestos litigation. "It's a good piece of paper," said one dealer, "It trades all the time."
In early January, some Japanese banks looking to purge their underpreforming credits auctioned off $10 million in Crown Cork & Seal paper. The name, which had steadily climbed up from the 70s over, traded slightly higher than 85. The J.P. Morgan andSociété Générale-led $2.5 billion revolver is priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 2%, and has a maturity of five years (LMW, 1/6).Timothy Donahue, sr. vice president of finance for Crown Cork & Seal, was unavailable for comment at press time.