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Banc of America Securities has priced the notes for Nomura Corporate Research and Management's $300 million collateralized loan obligation. The deal, called Clydesdale CLO 2003 is composed of leveraged loans and is the second arbitrage CLO managed by Nomura (LMW, 1/22). A source said the deal is approximately three quarters ramped up. Officials at Nomura declined comment. The structure comprises a $234 million triple-A tranche. The notes are said to have priced at LIBOR plus 55 basis points. The $19 million single-A tranche is priced at LIBOR plus 155 basis points and the $13 million triple-B is at LIBOR plus 290. The equity piece is $24 million. The last Nomura CLO to close was in May 2001 and was also called Clydesdale. The firm has approximately $1 billion in leveraged loans under management.

Loan investors were busier in 2002 than they were the previous year, but they did not get paid any more for their efforts. Average total compensation including bonus and salary for syndicated loan investors remained flat at about $530,000, while loan trading volume jumped 63%, according to a study of the U.S. fixed-income markets conducted by Greenwich Associates. But loan investors still did better than their traditional fixed-income counterparts (see chart, page 11) because the syndicated loan is more of a specialized product and its market requires more expertise, said Tim Sangston, a consultant at Greenwich Associates.

Lehman Brothers and Bank One were scheduled to launch syndication last week of a $187 million credit facility for Day International, according to cfo, Thomas Koenig. Because of power outages in New York it could not be determined if the deal actually hit the market. The deal includes a five-year, $20 million revolver; a six-year, $30 million "A" loan; a six-year, $105 million "B" piece; and a five-year, $32 million delayed-draw term loan to fund a potential acquisition, he said, declining to elaborate on the acquisition plans.

The new $187 million loan package for Dayton, Ohio-based Day International will allow the company to reap the benefits of lower interest costs and a reduced loan amortization schedule, noted John Sico, an analyst with Standard & Poor's. The company is using the proceeds from the new loan to repurchase its 111/8% senior unsecured notes and repay the company's existing credit facility. "We are a little more comfortable that they have less refinancing risk," said Sico. S&P has assigned the proposed loan a B rating. "The S&P rating, from what I know, seems to be aligned with what we expected," said Thomas Koenig, cfo of Day (see related story, page 3).

Del Monte Foods and its lead banks scrapped their mark-to-market refinancing plans last week, backing down to the investor uproar over plans to evade paying the call protection premiums attached to the deal (LMW, 8/11). Leads Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were fashioning the amended deal so that Del Monte would not have to pay the 102 call premium included in the first year of the deal. "We are not going to pursue a refinancing at this time," a company spokeswoman confirmed, declining to comment on the situation further. B of A and Morgan Stanley were also planning to shop the $1.245 billion credit's $750 million "B" loan in the LIBOR plus 21/2-23/4% range down from the original pricing of LIBOR plus 33/4%. One market player, not involved in the refinancing talks, did feel that the company's deal warranted a lower coupon. But the call protection should have been honored, he said. B of A and Morgan Stanley bankers did not return calls.

The long awaited $2.215 billion Dex Media West leveraged buyout credit hit the ground running last week, with investors consuming the $1.2 billion "B" piece soon after the bank meeting last Monday. The "B" loan was increased from $1.05 billion by $150 million after the concurrent bond deal backing the company's leveraged buyout was decreased by the same amount late last week. A banker said there was also talk of institutional investors possibly jumping into the $960 million "A" piece, but this could not be confirmed by press time. J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Securities are shopping the credit.

Dynegy Holdings' issuance of new second-priority senior secured notes has led Standard & Poor's to raise the rating on its $1.3 billion credit facility and term loan "B" from B+ to BB-. The new debt will be used to pay off the electricity and natural gas provider's $200 million "A" term loan, the $696 million Black Thunder senior secured facility and part of the company's $360 million "B" loan. The elimination of the term loan "A" and the Black Thunder facility will enhance Dynegy's collateral coverage.

Chris Lucas has jumped to Deutsche Bank's par desk as a director and desk analyst from Highland Capital Management. Lucas joins Alex Bici, a v.p., who was transferred internally from the bank's portfolio group about a month ago, to fill slots left vacant when Michael Curry and Kevin Dooley, both vice presidents, became part of the par loan sales team (LMW, 6/30). Lucas and Bici report to Clay Desjardine, head of Deutsche Bank's par loan trading. Desjardine confirmed the changes.

The market for Calpine Corp.'s $750 million second-lien term loan may be starting to climb back up into the 90s, but the 12-point drop in the levels within weeks of allocation has left some investors pointing an annoyed finger at Goldman Sachs, the sole lead arranger for the $3.3 billion debt transaction. Investors complained that the deal was increased by too much, that Goldman stuffed accounts full of the paper and did not support the new deal in the secondary market. "Clearly, there was disconnect between how the deal was marketed to us and how the deal was completed," said a buysider. But some investors admitted that the economic impact is the real source of the complaints. "Honestly, we're not happy because we lost money," said another investor. An official at Goldman declined to comment. Calls to Steve Hickey, head of Goldman's U.S. loan trading team, were referred to a loan sales official, who did not return calls by press time. Rick Barraza, Calpine's v.p. of investor relations, declined to comment on the story.

Leap Wireless International's vendor-financing paper has traded up as the company winds up bankruptcy proceedings. A $13-15 million piece of the loan was auctioned off two weeks ago this Friday in the 42-44 range, said traders. The seller was said to be one of the original holders of the paper. Last year about $300-400 million of this paper changed hands as low as the high teens (LMW, 11/02). The vendor-financing debt has since been slowly creeping up, particularly over the last month. The company should emerge from bankruptcy soon, financial results have been improving, and Leap is closing under-performing markets, which frees up spectrum that can be sold, one investor said.

Lehman Brothers launched syndication last week of a $200 million credit to help back B&G Foods' acquisition of Nestle Prepared Food Co.'s Ortega brand for an undisclosed amount. A banker said the credit includes a six-year, $150 million "B" loan priced at LIBOR plus 31/2% and a five-year, $50 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 31/4%. The deal will also go toward refinancing existing debt, he added. The existing $280 million credit includes a $70 million "A" loan, a $150 million "B" piece and a $60 million revolver. Lehman also leads this deal, which helped back B&G's acquisition in 1999 of The Heritage Portfolio of Brands from The Pillsbury Co., Indivined B.V. and IC Acquisition Corp. for $192 million. A Lehman official declined to comment.

State Street Research & Management is considering bringing its floating-rate fund strategy to the retail level. The move is designed to protect investors against rising interest rates. State Street aims to capitalize on the solid track-record it has had with this offering on the institutional side, said Mark Marinella, chief investment officer, fixed-income. The Boston manager now offers the LIBOR Plus Strategy and Enhanced Cash portfolios to institutional clients. Indeed, many fixed-income managers are bracing themselves for the looming end of a long bond rally. A floating-rate strategy has been regarded as an effective hedge against rising interest rates, but only a handful of fund companies offer them directly to retail clients. In fact, there are almost no no-load shops who offer these types of investments, fixed-income managers said. "It's not that well known. You need someone, an advisor, to talk about it," said Payson Swaffield, v.p. and co-portfolio manager of the Eaton Vance Floating Rate Fund. Eaton Vance was among the first managers to peddle a floating-rate fund on the retail level. Swaffield said the fund has seen a year-to-date spike in assets, but declined to be more specific.