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BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

Readers of this space are always interested in the alter egos and hobbies of bank loan participants. Claudio Phillips, the head loan trader at Salomon Smith Barney, was featured last year when he won a coveted Tony Award for Best Musical for his role as one of the producers of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Well, Annie Greven, a par loan trader at Rabobank International who recently moved over from Morgan Stanley (LMW, 3/17), has stepped into the spotlight after being featured in The New York Times as a proud owner of a Vespa--The Scooter for Dreamers and Romantics. Reportedly, the Vespa has been an ice-breaker with clients. The only thing Greven does not like to discuss is the broken arm she suffered after getting gutsy and accelerating over a curb and into a wall. Exhibiting the resilience of a true loan market veteran, she parked her Vespa and hailed a cab for a trip to the hospital. Greven revealed to LMW that she is now fully recovered and is back up and riding again.

This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.

Investors oversubscribed to the $80 million add-on incremental "B" term loan for Language Line, which was increased from its originally proposed size of $75 million. Pricing was reverse flexed from LIBOR plus 4% to LIBOR plus 33/4%, a banker explained. The "B" loan, led by TD Securities, FleetBoston Financial and Wachovia Securities, will provide a dividend to the company's sponsor, Providence Equity Partners, he noted. The five-and-a-half-year loan will tack on to Language Line's existing $200 million credit put in place in October 2001. This credit has amortized down to $170 million. The banker said the add-on loan is being executed now because the performance of Language Line, a provider of over-the-phone translation services, has been very strong and it has de-levered back down to its 2001 levels. "It just made sense to recapitalize," he added.

Western Wireless bank debt ticked up to the 99 to par range after the company announced it will raise $600 million in senior unsecured debt. The company's bank debt has been climbing out of the 70s since the beginning of the year. The debt jumped about four points after a bank call two weeks ago to the 97-98 range with rumors of a bond offering (LMW, 7/7).

The six-year, $135 million "B" loan for Packaged Ice was more than five times oversubscribed last week, with about $700 million in tickets in for the tranche, a banker said. Lead banks CIBC World Markets, Credit Suisse First Boston and Bear Stearns were set to close the books on the loan by last Thursday, just two days after syndication launched. The banker said it was not determined if the institutional piece would be increased or if a reverse price flex would occur. The "B" piece was shopped at LIBOR plus 31/2%. The credit backs Packaged Ice's $450 million acquisition by Trimaran Capital Partners and Bear Stearns Merchant Banking.

The pace of new investment in the distressed debt market by pension funds and endowments has slowed considerably in the last six months, according to iisearches and Loan Market Week. Rising prices are cited as the main culprit, but several distressed managers insist opportunities remain. "High returns are synonymous with rising prices, and rising prices don't give you great [new] opportunities," explained Howard Marks, principal of Oak Tree Capital Management.

The new $740 million debt package backing the leveraged buyout of TransDigm will significantly increase the company's leverage, but Moody's Investors Service expects stable and eventually improved revenues to support the company's ratings. The $440 million of bank debt and $300 million senior subordinated notes supporting Warburg Pincus' and TransDigm managements' acquisition of the company from Odyssey Investment Partners have been assigned B1 and B3 ratings, respectively. In addition to the debt financing, Warburg Pincus will provide a $532 million equity investment.

Trimble Navigation has scored a new $175 million secured credit facility consisting of a three-year, $125 million revolver and a four-year, $50 million term loan. Scotia Capital leads the credit. The facility was oversubscribed, which enabled the GPS device maker to increase the facility from $150 million to $175 million and close syndication early, said John Huey, Trimble's treasurer. He attributed the oversubscription both to Trimble's good performance over the last year--the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has steadily de-levered and reduced debt to two times EBITDA--and to pent-up market demand for a company with Trimble's size and performance. "There are not many deals being done in the market, so there is all this money sitting there and it gets thrown at you," Huey said. "We literally kept ducking the stuff," he added.