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Peter Schellbach, a director in Deutsche Bank's special situations group, has left the firm to join Goldman Sachs. Schellbach will join Goldman as a v.p. and trader of distressed and crossover loans. At Goldman, Schellbach will report to Mark DeNatale, v.p. and senior loan trader. Officials at Deutsche Bank and Goldman declined to comment.

The Seaport Group has hired Brian Hewitt, a former director of high-yield sales at Fleet Securities. Hewitt will be a managing director and senior sales person at Seaport, catering to institutional clients and focusing on Seaport's full range of products, mainly stressed and distressed products in the capital structure, noted Marc Baum, Seaport's chief operating officer. Amy Siskind, a managing director of bank debt trading, noted that with Hewitt the firm now has nine salespeople covering over 200 distressed buyside accounts.

Vincent Repaci, the former head of asset-based syndications and distribution at GE Capital, joined UBS Warburg last Monday to head up the firm's new asset-based lending (ABL) effort as an executive director. The new division will stand separate from UBS' loan syndications department, Repaci explained, adding that the group will only be participating in asset-based, secured loans, but not originating credits.

United Components' new $390 million credit, which backs an $800 million buyout by The Carlyle Group, is supported by the company's diverse product offering and its strong market position, noted Lisa Matalon, v.p. and senior analyst with Moody's Investors Service. Carlyle will invest approximately $260 million of equity to back the buyout with additional financing provided by the new credit facility and a $255 million guaranteed senior subordinated note issue. Moody's has assigned a B1 rating to the credit--a $65 million revolver, a $50 million "A" term loan, and a $275 million "B" tranche--and a B3 rating to the new notes.

Morgan Stanley is set to price this week the notes for GoldenTree Asset Management's latest collateralized loan obligation, which contains the option to buy distressed and stressed loan assets. GoldenTree Loan Opportunities Fund II will probably be $400 million, which is $100 million more than market talk, said a banker. The deal is a little under half-ramped up, he said, adding that the CLO is not highly leveraged, with an 11% equity piece. This enables the CLO, like the GoldenTree Loan Opportunitiees vehicle, to invest in par, distressed and stressed assets. Up to 30% of the deal can be for stressed and distressed assets, he noted. GoldenTree's lead loan portfolio manager, Fred Haddad, and a Morgan Stanley CDO banker declined comment until the deal closes.

Pinnacle Entertainment has completed a $240 million credit backing the construction of a casino-hotel project in Lake Charles, La. and additions at its Belterra Casino Resort in Indiana. The company had originally intended to complete an equity offering to fund the construction to keep leverage low, but after a fall off in the gaming market, pursuing an equity deal was not as favorable, explained Stephen Capp, Pinnacle's executive v.p. and cfo.

Bank One has named Tom Schnell to head its real estate corporate banking group. Schnell, who previously headed up the bank's real estate syndications group, will now manage a 20-member group focused on a much broader base of capital markets activity including high-yield bonds, derivatives, equity and convertible securities for large public companies and institutional real estate players. He succeeds John McDonald, who retired about two months ago.

Bank of America and Wachovia Securities are leading the $300 million debtor-in-possession financing for bankrupt WestPoint Stevens, a maker of sheets, pillow cases and towels, including Martha Stewart products for Kmart. WestPoint filed for bankruptcy last week in order to significantly reduce debt, return to profitability and enable it to compete more effectively for the long term, according to a company statement. The one-year DIP line is priced at LIBOR plus 23/4%. A date for syndication could not be determined. A banker at Wachovia did not return calls by press time, and a B of A banker declined comment.

Last Wednesday, information regarding Calpine Corp.'s previously announced securitization deal sent the company's term loan "B" trading above 97, up from the 96 97 level. Traders said paper changed hands in the 975/8 981/4 range. The company intends to sell approximately $800 million of senior secured notes due 2010. The securitization of power sales agreements is set to provide the company with liquidity for capital expenditures.

Charter Communications continued to climb as the company is said to be pursuing an amendment that will give lenders extra juice. Market players said Charter is offering an extra 50 basis points for "B" loan commitments and approximately 75 basis points on the pro rata. The term loan "B" traded in the 933/4 941/2 range last Monday, climbing up from the 92 context where it traded two weeks ago.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia has overturned a Sept. 20 ruling on the bankruptcy of Cybergenics Corp. which denied the company's creditors' committees the right to bring a claim against the senior bank lenders. The original ruling was a literal interpretation of a part of the bankruptcy code that has been more loosely interpreted by other circuit courts.

The $825 million exit financing for Laidlaw was juiced up last week to jump start its syndication. The credit backs the transportation company's exit from Chapter 11, which was delayed for the third time after Laidlaw blew through its May 30 target date. Many market players see the company's sluggish bank deal as one of the roadblocks in the way. After launching syndication to retail investors last month, Citigroup and Credit Suisse First Boston had only rounded up $150 million in commitments coming into last week. To get things rolling, pricing was increased for the third time, call protection and a LIBOR floor were introduced and the agents offered an original issue discount.