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Scotia Capital has hired Miranda Zhao, v.p. in the structured products group at Deutsche Bank in New York, as a structured credit marketer in London in a new position to increase its profile among investors. "There are more and more investors [in collateralized debt obligations], but it is a challenge to meet their requirements as they have become more demanding," said Frank Ackermann, head of investor marketing in the credit derivatives and credit investments group in London. "At the same time, we are seeing spread tightening, which makes it harder to generate the pay outs to compensate for the risk."

The Royal Bank of Scotland has hired Trevor Vail, credit derivatives trader at ING Financial Markets in Hong Kong, as Asian head of credit trading to set up a trading desk in Tokyo. The firm already trades Japanese credit derivatives out of London, but is now establishing a local desk, according to Pierre Ferland, branch manager and treasurer in Tokyo.

Colm O'Shea, managing director at Citigroup Global Markets, has joined Soros Fund Management in New York. At Citigroup, O'Shea was responsible for managing a Treasury bond portfolio, which included derivatives, and will likely have similar responsibilities in his new position, said an official familiar with the move. O'Shea could not be reached.

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.

What's in a name? Certainly a lot if you believe fund managers and bankers. Forest Creek is named after a golf course; Race Point II after a lighthouse; Chiron CDO I is from the comet and Hanover Square CLO is from a New York park. These are just some of the names that have been created past and present in the CDO market, but some distressed debt managers and CLO managers are said to be having trouble naming their new potential funds. And all along we thought finding equity was the tough part.

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.

About $450 million in institutional tickets rolled in for Rite Aid Corp.'s $1.15 billion "B" piece after last Wednesday's bank meeting. Citigroup and J.P. Morgan lead the company's $2 billion refinancing package. A banker familiar with the deal said about $200 million was committed by buysiders ahead of the meeting and then another $250 million was committed afterwards by the "B" investors. About $1 billion has been committed by pro rata players who will take portions of the "B" loan and the $850 million revolver, the banker added. Both tranches are priced at LIBOR plus 33/4%. An official at Citi and a J.P. Morgan spokesman declined to comment.

WorldCom's bank debt rallied again this week trading into the 28 1/4 - 28 3/4 range with one dealer estimating that more than $25-35 million of the paper changed hands last Thursday. Two weeks ago, the name was trading in the 26 27 1/2 range after the company filed its plan of reorganization. Market players said the name moved up with AT&T Corp.'s strong earnings and positive sentiment toward the telecom industry. Stronger earnings for AT&T, a WorldCom competitor, gives hope to WorldCom's creditors, who are likely to receive a sizable portion of their recovery package in equity. The business model should work, said one trader. In addition, one dealer said a telecom industry report, citing WorldCom as a possible acquisition target, also gave a boost to the name. Bob Blakely, WorldCom's cfo, could not be reached by press time.

Monro Muffler Brake has obtained a new $110 million credit facility with an adjusted debt-to-EBITDAR (EBITDA plus rent) covenant that allows the company to tap the funds under the deal to pursue acquisitions. Since the former credit was completed in 1998, Monro Muffler has paid down about $40 million of debt, performed well, digested the acquisition of 205 stores from Speedy Muffler King, and is now ready to pursue more acquisitions, explained Catherine D'Amico, Monro Muffler's executive v.p. of finance and cfo. But the former credit was structured so that the debt-to-EBITDAR covenant stepped down annually and at the time of the refinancing was 3.5 times, restricting the amount the company could use for acquisitions.

Nextel Communications' bank debt has been ticking up since the company filed a shelf registration on March 27 for up to $5 billion in new securities. Market players speculate that the digital mobile phone operator could be one of the seasoned issuers poised to tap the capital markets for new financing. The company's "B" piece was quoted in the 96 96 1/2 context prior to the shelf registration and was trading in the 97 1/8 98 1/4 range last week, buoyed partly by Nextel's strong quarterly earnings report.