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Sankaty Advisors, the fixed-income affiliate of Bain Capital, has raised the debt for its new $550 million collateralized loan obligation Race Point II CLO, with the deal containing new structural features and a particularly long ramp-up period. The deal can have a 270-day ramp-up period, which is one and one-half to two times more than the average ramp-up period for a high-yield CDO, according to Ashleigh Bischoff, an analyst at Fitch Ratings. The long ramp-up is beneficial as it will give Sankaty flexibility to purchase the 50% of assets needed to fill the vehicle over the year, she said, adding that given the economic conditions, liquidity in the loan market could be impacted in the coming months.

Life sciences company Serologicals closed out a $117.5 million credit with its first ever "B" loan to back the acquisition of Chemicon International. The transaction was completed last Monday after the tranche sizes shifted for the initially proposed $125 million deal. Bud Ingalls, Serologicals' v.p. of finance and cfo, said the company had recently improved its cash position, so it opted to increase the four-year revolver from $25 million to $35 million for more flexibility. The initially proposed five-year, $100 million "B" loan also decreased to $82.5 million, he added. Pricing terms closed at LIBOR plus 41/4% on the "B" piece and LIBOR plus 33/4% for the revolver, Ingalls noted. Proposed pricing did not change during syndication.

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp.'s improved operating and financial performance may boost the Toronto-based company's loan rating up from Ba1. Shoppers' progress in strategic initiatives, such as promoting pharmacy expertise, accelerating store growth, emphasis on a larger store size and refining of merchandise mix are all factors that prompted Moody's Investors Service to place the company's bank debt under review for possible upgrade, affecting Shoppers' $949 million in credit facilities. The possible upgrade will depend on the retail drug company's acquisitions, capital expenditure program, and the re-launching of its private label offerings. The review will also examine Shoppers' ability to contend with growing competition from other drug stores, as well as the company's systems and logistics initiatives. John Caplice, cfo at Shoppers, declined to comment.

Bram Smith, formerly head of loan syndication at Morgan Stanley, joined Bear Stearns last Monday as a senior managing director in leveraged finance. Smith is reporting to Keith Barnish, senior managing director and co-head of global leveraged finance, which includes teams in New York and London. Smith said he would also be focusing on loans both in the U.S. and Europe in his new position. He added that Bear Stearns will be selectively ramping up the department. "The first task is trying to integrate me," he added with a bit of humor.

UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank hit the market last Thursday with a $750 million refinancing credit for cable and communications products provider Amphenol. The deal comprises a seven-year, $500 million "B" loan priced at LIBOR plus 21/2% and a five-year, $125 million revolver and $125 million "A" piece at a spread of 2% over LIBOR. A banker familiar with the deal noted that the new term loan sports a better premium than the company's existing $375 million "B" piece, which is priced at LIBOR plus 11/2%. The existing credit also includes a $310 million "A" loan and $150 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 3/4%. Deutsche Bank leads this credit with J.P. Morgan and Bank of New York also acting as top tier lenders. A UBS official declined to comment. A Deutsche Bank banker did not return calls.

A two point dip in the price of Calpine's bank debt was attracting a lot of attention from bank debt players last week as a $20-30 million piece traded hands and those watching the credit speculated that the term sheet on the proposed extension of the company's $1 billion revolver due in May could be sparking activity. "There has to be something going on," said one buysider, noting that Calpine's bonds dipped as well. The buyer and seller of the piece could not be determined. Traders said the name had been quoted as high as 95 1/2 96 1/2 before this latest slip.

Credit Suisse First Boston has promoted Don Pollard and Bruce Ling. CSFB officials say the promotions come as Bennett Goodman, who had been global head of leveraged finance, looks to free himself up to assume broader responsibilities within the firm. Goodman, now chairman of merchant banking and leveraged finance, added merchant banking duties to his brief earlier this year. Pollard and Ling had been co-heads of the syndicated loan business. Pollard now assumes sole oversight of syndicated loans. He reports to Doug Ostrover and Tripp Smith, who have become the new global co-heads of the leveraged finance unit. Ling, meanwhile, has become chairman of corporate banking and a member of the investment banking operating committee. He is reporting to Bennett Goodman and working closely with Adebayo Ogunlesi, global head of investment banking.

Nordea Bank Finland seized the lead from Bank One for a $225 million refinancing deal for Houston-based offshore drilling company Atwood Oceanics after Bank One would not cough up the tighter pricing and longer tenor that the company wanted on the credit. "[Nordea] gave us a better offer, plain and simple," said James Holland, executive v.p., cfo and secretary. "[Bank One] couldn't go more than three years," he added. The present deal, which is fully underwritten with Credit Agricole Indosuez Capital, Fortis Capital and Hamburgische Landesbank, includes a five-year, $150 million term loan and a five-year, $75 million revolver. Holland noted that Bank One's business policy did not allow it to handle the maturity and pricing that the company was demanding. Bank One is not involved in the new deal. Bankers from Bank One and Hamburgische could not be reached by press time, while officials from Nordea, Credit Agricole and Fortis declined to comment.

Two seasoned leveraged finance players have left their posts at General Electric Capital Corp. and U.S. Bancorp to serve the ultra-low end of the middle-market with a new leveraged buyout fund. Richard Buckanavage, formerly a managing director for sales and market intelligence in the loan syndication group at GE and Timothy Hassler, a former v.p. of capital markets at U.S. Bancorp, have co-founded the new Westport, Conn.-based fund Patriot Capital Funding.

Investors devoured at least $1 billion of the $1.5 billion institutional loan for Allied Waste Industries by the time last Wednesday's retail bank meeting was held. Pricing tightened from LIBOR plus 31/2% to LIBOR plus 31/4% ahead of the launch because of the strong reception, a banker stated. The coupon still beats the existing term debt's LIBOR plus 23/4-3% spreads. More investors were expected to jump into the loan last week as LMW went to press, and another market player suggested that pricing could be flexed down further. The "B" piece is joining a $1.5 billion revolver that had been filled out ahead of the retail launch and priced at LIBOR plus 3% (LMW, 4/7). J.P. Morgan and Citigroup are leading the $3 billion refinancing credit, with UBS Warburg, Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank also serving as top tier agents. Bankers on the deal either declined to comment or did not return calls.

Creditors to Hayes Lemmerz International reached a compromise that will allow the company to go forward with its reorganization. Bank debt holders wanting more value coming out of bankruptcy did not consent to the company's previous plan of reorganization, leading senior noteholders to threaten litigation, and sending creditors back to the table (LMW, 4/7). The bank debt traded in the 82-83 1/2 context after the new plan was announced up from the 80 1/2-81 range where it was moving two weeks ago.

InSight Health Services has added a new $50 million, three-year delayed-draw term loan that the company intends to use as an acquisition line. The company recently tapped some of the new facility to fund its purchase of 13 diagnostic imaging centers from the Comprehensive Medical Imaging subsidiaries of Cardinal Health. Acquisitions are one of the pillars of the company's three-part growth strategy, noted Kent Tuholsky, InSight treasurer. Internal growth and the development of de novo centers, or new operations, make up the other two pillars, he said. Tuholsky declined to comment on how much of the loan has been used.