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Nextel Communications' bank debt broke par and traded as high as the 1001/8 1003/8 level after the company came out with its second quarter earnings results and announced a $1 billion note offering. Traders said it was a combination of good results and the new financing that lifted the paper from just under par. The name hit its low in mid-July of last year when it was quoted in the high 70s, according to LoanX.

Last week, Bank of America was set to allocate Westlake Chemical Corp.'s $100 million, fixed asset-secured term loan after attracting more than $400 million in commitments to the tranche. The hybrid loan kicks off the petrochemical and plastics producing company's refinancing efforts, which also include a $400 million senior unsecured notes deal and a $200 million senior secured asset-based revolver. A banker familiar with the transactions said the bonds will be priced this week. The term loan is priced in the LIBOR plus 4-41/2% range. The revolver is scheduled to hit the market in the beginning of August, the banker noted, adding that pricing is set at LIBOR plus 21/2% for the tranche. A B of A official declined to comment.

Loral Space & Communications bank debt ran up from the 85 context to the 95 98 range last week its second big jump in as many months after the company announced that it had filed for bankruptcy to facilitate the sale of six of its North American satellites. The filing will enable Loral to sell the satellites unencumbered, a typical strategy used to essentially sanitize the sale, explained Harvey Miller, a managing director at Greenhill and also a financial advisor to Loral. Market players noted that the paper traded actively. A $10 million piece changed hands in the 93 943/4 context, according to traders.

Barclays Bank launched syndication last Thursday for the $180 million credit backing the acquisition of InfraSource by private equity firms GFI Energy Ventures and Oaktree Capital Management for $280 million. The deal has already received some tickets, said Ian Schapiro, founding principal of GFI. He did not cite specific investors. The credit includes a $140 million "B" loan priced at LIBOR plus 4% and a $40 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 31/2%, Schapiro confirmed. A banker noted that senior and total leverage is 2.5 times. Schapiro said the firm was still waiting on the ratings for the credit, expected this week. Positive ratings could potentially lower the pricing, he said. "We are hoping it will oversubscribe substantially," Schapiro added. A Barclays official declined comment.

Regent Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Regent Communications, has scored a $150 million credit facility led by Fleet Bank that will enable the broadcasting company to acquire other companies. "We're very happy with our new facility and our ability to grow through acquisitions," said Anthony Vasconcellos, senior v.p. and cfo of Regent Communications.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has joined the $240 million asset-based deal for Foamex International, according to a banker familiar with the credit. Bank One and Congress Financial also joined at the agent level after GE Capital signed on as a co-lead with original lead Bank of America, the banker added.

Charter Communications' bank debt ticked up into the 951/4 953/4 range following the company's announcement that it is offering $1.7 billion of senior notes and anticipates $500 million of the proceeds to pay down the company's credit facilities. But the loan had fallen back to its pre-announcement levels in the 941/2 95 context by week's end, noted one dealer. Investors "are not 100% sure what is going to get paid back," a trader said, noting that Charter has a number of different facilities.

Laura Siracuse, a former v.p. in leveraged finance capital markets at Citigroup, left the firm this month in order to become a middle school math teacher. Peter Kettle, a v.p. in the same department at the firm, will be assuming Siracuse's responsibilities, according to a person familiar with the situation. Siracuse reported to Mike Mauer, a managing director in leveraged finance capital markets. Siracuse began at Citi in 1987, while Kettle began at Citi in 1997 after working at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, now known as Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. A Citi spokeswoman confirmed Siracuse's departure, but declined further comment. Siracuse could not be reached.

Credit Suisse First Boston is bulking up its distressed loan operations, bringing on Frank Fiorito, formerly a director and head bank loan trader at Dresdner Bank, and Michael Glickman, formerly at Conseco Capital Management. Fiorito will be a director and distressed loan sourcer, while Glickman will be a director and research analyst on CSFB's distressed desk. The duo started working at CSFB last Monday.

RCN Corp.'s announcement of a tender offer for up to $290 million of its senior unsecured notes has led Moody's Investors Service to lower RCN's bank debt ratings to Caa3 from Caa1. RCN has $15 million remaining of its revolver and $539 million of senior secured term loans due 2006. Moody's stated that the Princeton, N.J.-based telecommunications company will need to further restructure its debt obligations. RCN has avoided a larger-scale involuntary restructuring to date by facilitating the sale of incumbent cable systems, but there are very few remaining assets that could be divested, Moody's states.

UBS has hired Richard Beaudoin as executive director in its industrials investment banking group. Most recently, Beaudoin was an executive director in the syndicated loan group of Credit Suisse First Boston, but was a part of a round of layoffs about nine months ago, according to a CSFB spokesman.

Highland Capital Management, the world's second largest leveraged loan asset management firm, has hired Jack Yang, the ex-global head of leveraged finance products at Merrill Lynch, as a partner in charge of business development. Yang will head Dallas-based Highland's recently established New York office where he will focus on growing the business through potential acquisitions of asset management firms and new products. "The firm will use its capital to take advantage of both organic growth opportunities and acquisitions which leverage the firm's investment acumen and success," said Yang. He declined to specify potential acquisition targets.