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Centennial Communications' Centennial Cellular credit has been rallying since the company came out with healthy numbers for its third quarter results last month. Traders said the name was trading actively over the last couple of weeks with levels creeping up into the 82 1/2 83 1/2 range from the high 70s context, where the paper had languished for more than three months. One seller said he was able to unload the paper at levels higher than he expected, noting how his firm had considered the paper a non-performing asset for some time. Centennial announced that adjusted EBITDA was $68.1 million for the third quarter, up about 21% from the same time period last year. Thomas Fitzpatrick, Centennial's cfo, could not be reached by press time.

The bank debt for bankrupt battery-maker Exide Technologies slumped this week from the low 60s with dealers quoting the market for the paper wide at 55-60. Pieces were said to have traded at 55 and 54, but those trades could not be confirmed. The latest trades occur as the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors and R2 Investments go after liens to the assets and capital stock of Exide's foreign subsidiaries that were granted to the pre-petition bank debt holders. This credit is a good example why investors shy away from transatlantic deals, said one buysider. He also noted that the dragging out of the case was putting pressure on the name.

Fleming Companies' pre-petition bank debt levels held their ground after the company filed for bankruptcy last Tuesday. Bank debt players said the "B" piece traded in the low 80s. Holders of the company's 101/8% senior notes were not as fortunate, as the market for their securities dropped into the high teens from the mid-20s two weeks ago. Dealers and buysiders said adequate protection, good asset value, and the strength of the company's retail distribution business were some of the factors propping the bank debt levels. Some are concerned, however, with how vendor claims will be treated in the reorganization process.

Allied Waste Industries will be launching a $3 billion refinancing deal to retail this Wednesday and market players are eyeballing the $1.5 billion "B" piece's LIBOR plus 31/2% coupon. While the question was raised of whether pricing was aggressive enough to attract enough interest, bankers and investors said the name was too big and too liquid to be passed up by investors. J.P. Morgan and Citibank are leading the credit with UBS Warburg, Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank also acting as top tier agents. Bankers on the deal either declined to comment or did not return calls.

David Morin jumped from Morgan Stanley to ABN Amro last week to join the firm's trading operations. At ABN he will be reporting to Catherine Yelverton, global head of secondary loan trading, who has been establishing the firm's secondary bank loan presence since the effort got underway last April. Morin had been working as an analyst in Morgan Stanley's credit department, but he began his stint on the loan desk as a trader's assistant to Robert Franz, who now works at Credit Suisse First Boston. Morin confirmed his arrival at ABN. A spokesman from Morgan Stanley confirmed his departure.

Insurance giant AIG is in the market warehousing loans for a new collateralized loan obligation, as the firm seeks to be opportunistic with the current spreads on offer. There are good yields available, though the liabilities right now are expensive, explained a market source. AIG would like to be in a position to launch the new CLO within the next couple of months, he added, noting that the plans are still at an early stage. AIG has created a warehouse line with a bank--that could not be determined--but has not yet chosen the lead to raise the debt, the source said. The potential CLO will add to the massive $4 billion AIG has in loan assets under management and would be the firm's fifth structured loan vehicle. Officials at AIG declined comment.

Charter Communications inched up toward 89-90 after the company announced that Paul Allen, principle owner of the cable company, has offered to provide a $300 million credit line to assist Charter in meeting certain covenants under its existing credit facilities. "What everyone wants to see is that Paul Allen is supporting the credit," said one trader of the uptick in the name. While the company is currently in compliance with all its covenants, one analyst speculated that the Allen credit might be put in place to give Charter's auditors comfort that the company has a cushion for at least another year. Charter paper traded in the 87 1/2 context two weeks ago.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Citibank pitched Laidlaw's $825 million bank debt exit financing to investors last Thursday as the company makes plans to emerge from bankruptcy this month. The deal includes a five-year, $525 million "B" piece with price talk in the LIBOR plus 31/2% range and a six-year, $300 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 3%. A commitment fee of 50 basis points is also being offered on the revolver. A $350 million bond deal is also coming to market as part of the exit financing. Laidlaw, a school and inter-city bus company, filed for Chapter 11 in June 2001. Investors said the deal could be attractive, considering Laidlaw's stable transportation business. CSFB and Citi bankers and Geoff Mann, treasurer and v.p. of Laidlaw, did not return calls.

Bank of America and Credit Suisse First Boston are shopping a $450 million credit for Oxford Health Plans with the proceeds from the term loan funding a $208 million obligation on a $225 million settlement for a class action lawsuit. The new bank debt will also refinance $120 million of existing debt. The BB+ rated credit was launched to the market on April 1, a banker said. The $50 million, five-year revolver is priced at LIBOR plus 21/4% with a 50 basis point commitment fee, while the six-year, $400 million term loan has a spread of LIBOR plus 21/2-3/4%.

Texas Industries, a Dallas-based construction-materials company, is undergoing weak operating performance in a bleak business environment that has resulted in a downgrade and a review for further possible action by Moody's Investors Service. The agency will look at the company's ability to refinance or complete amendments, which, beyond its bank waivers until May, would allow it to more permanently meet its financial covenants. "We're in negotiations with our banks," said Ken Allen, v.p. and treasurer. Moody's anticipates that the rising costs of energy and raw materials will limit the improvement of Texas' near-term performance, creating a shortfall in cash flow that could make it difficult for the company to comply with financial covenants. The company's guaranteed senior unsecured revolver rating fell to Ba3 from Ba2.

AUSTRALASIA Australia Newcrest Mining, through its financing arm Newcrest Finance, has finalised funding for the Telfer Gold Mining Project after six banks completed a A$575m six year club deal. Arrangers are: National Australia Bank committing A$150m, Westpac Banking Corp investing A$125m, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ Investment Bank lending A$100m each and HSBC and SG taking A$50m apiece. Proceeds are to fund the construction, development, commissioning and operation of the Telfer Gold Mine located in Western Australia. The project received approval after completion of the feasibility study in October 2002 and approval from the board in November 2002. Arranger Barclays Capital has completed the A$700m extension facility for Qantas Airways. The facility is an extension of the core A$300m 364 day, A$300m three year and A$100m five year syndicated standby tranches of the A$2.1bn deal that was signed May 2001. For the 364 day portion and three year tranche banks committed equal amounts to both tranches. National Australia Bank contributed $36.96m, Barclays A$26.7m, Citigroup, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and JP Morgan A$21.69m apiece, ABN Amro, ANZ Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Australia, WestLB and Westpac Banking Corp A$17.41m each and BNP Paribas, Mizuho Corporate Bank and SG Australia A$16.45m apiece. For the five year tranche National Australia absorbed A$12.32m, Barclays A$8.9m, Citigroup/SSB, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and JP Morgan A$7.23m apiece and ABN Amro, ANZ Investment Bank, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mizuho Corporate Bank, SG Australia, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Australia, WestLB and Westpac Banking Corp A$5.8m each. Tranche 'A' Size: A$300m Type: 364 day revolving credit Margin: 55bp over BBSY Commitment fee: 15bp Tranche 'B' Size: A$300m Type: Three year revolving credit Margin: 65bp over BBSY Commitment fee: 25bp Tranche 'C' Size: A$100m Type: Five year revolving credit Margin: 65bp over BBSY Commitment fee: 25bp Arranger: Barclays Capital ASIA China Co-ordinating arrangers SG Asia, BNP Paribas, Bumiputra Commerce Bank, Crédit Lyonnais, Den norske Bank and ICBC have closed the $131.16m 10 year ship financing for China Ocean Shipping (Cosco). Arrangers are Industrial Commercial Bank of China, NordLB, China Construction Bank and Guangdong Development Bank. Proceeds are to buy three new container ships. Signing is in mid-April. Size: $131.16m Type: 10 year term loan Margin: 115bp over Libor Co-ordinating arrangers: SG Asia, BNP Paribas, Bumiputra Commerce Bank, Crédit Lyonnais, Den norske Bank, ICBC Fees: Arrangers - 50bp for $50m or more Senior lead managers - 43bp for $10m-$49m Purpose: Ship financing Hong Kong Syndication of PCCW's HK$3.003bn financing may be delayed for a week due to the pneumonia outbreak in Hong Kong. Arrangers HSBC, Bank of China, Hang Seng Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Standard Chartered aim to close the deal next week. The HK$200m facility for Samson Paper has been increased to HK$260m after the deal was oversubscribed with banks committing a total of HK$295m. Arranger Development Bank of Singapore committed HK$30m, with co-arrangers China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) and Jian Sing Bank pledging $27m apiece. Lead managers are Bumiputra-Commerce Bank investing HK$23m and Bank of Taiwan, ING, International Bank of Taipei, Taipei Bank, UFJ Bank, United World Chinese Commercial Bank and Wing Hang Bank providing HK$18m each. Proceeds are to repay short term borrowings and for general corporate purposes. Signing is in Hong Kong in mid-April. Tranche 'A' Size: HK$130m Type: Three year term loan Tranche 'B' Size: HK$130m Type: Three year revolving credit Margin: 100bp over Hibor Arranger: Development Bank of Singapore Fees: Co-arrangers 65bp for HK$30m or more Lead managers 55bp for HK$20m-HK$29m Purpose: General corporate The HK$200m five year term loan for Barson Development, guaranteed by parent Café de Coral, has been completed with eight banks joining the transaction. Arrangers include BNP Paribas, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Crédit Agricole Indosuez, Standard Chartered and Wing Lung Bank providing HK$33.4m apiece. Managers are Mizuho Corporate Finance, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and UFJ Bank (Hong Kong) committing HK$11m each. Proceeds are for working capital purposes. Signing took place in Hong Kong on March 31. Size: HK$200m Type: Five year term loan Margin: 52bp over Hibor Arrangers: BNP Paribas, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Crédit Agricole Indosuez, Standard Chartered, Wing Lung Bank Frontend fee: 50bp Purpose: Working capital Korea Arrangers of the $200m two and three year credit for Korea Development Bank say syndication is progressing smoothly and they have received commitments from several banks. A couple more are due in before the deal closes next week. Arrangers have completed the $180m three year term loan for Hana Bank, selling down a total of $8m to three joining banks. For the one year portion arranger Barclays Capital, Citigroup/SSB and Standard Chartered contributed A$21.5m each, Development Bank of Singapore A$16.5m, LB Kiel and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp $11.5m apiece and BayernLB $10m. Manager Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (Taipei) took $3m. For the two year tranche, arranger Wachovia Bank injected $21.5m, BayernLB $11.5m, LB Kiel and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp $10m each. Manager Sampo Bank took $3m. For the three year term loan, Commercial Bank of Greece joined as a manager committing $2m. The limited selldown is no surprise given market sentiment in Korea. Signing took place in Seoul on April 1. Tranche 'A' Type: One year term loan Margin: 15bp over Libor Fees: Co-arrangers - 10bp for $10m or more Lead managers - 9bp for $5m-$9m Managers - 8bp for $2m-$4m Tranche 'B' Type: Two year term loan Margin: 23bp over Libor Fees: Co-arrangers - 24bp for $10m or more Lead managers - 22bp for $5m-$9m Managers - 20bp for $2m-$4m Tranche 'C' Type: Three year term loan Margin: 33bp over Libor Fees: Co-arrangers - 36bp for $10m or more Lead managers - 33bp for $5m-$9m Managers - 30bp for $2m-$4m Size: $180m Arrangers: Barclays Capital, BayernLB, Citigroup, Development Bank of Singapore, LBKiel, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Wachovia Bank Repayment: Bullet Purpose: Working capital Malaysia IOI Corp Bhd has awarded a mandate for the refinancing of its Eu230m bridge facility to Citigroup. The five year loan will feature an amortising repayment schedule with an average life of 3.55 years although no pricing has been finalised yet. The original deal paid a step-up margin of 110bp for the first six months and 130bp thereafter with the increase set to occur this May 14. Fees to the market were 5bp for tickets of Eu50m or more. Proceeds financed the purchase of Loders Croklaan, a leading supplier of specialty oils and fats. Launch is expected in the next few days. Singapore Huan Hsin Holdings has awarded a mandate to OCBC to arrange a $30m five year term loan. The borrower produces and supplies telecoms, IT-related, consumer electronics and electrical products and components to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Proceeds are for working capital purposes. Details are being finalised before launch next week. Arrangers HSBC, NordLB (Singapore) and Standard Chartered Bank are waiting for official commitments from banks before closing the S$200m fundraising for CapitaLand Commercial. Thailand Standard Chartered has held presentations in Bangkok for a Bt4bn two year term loan for Digital Phone, a GSM network operator. The facility will refinance an existing Bt6.22bn equivalent fundraising divided between a Bt5.45bn portion and an $18m tranche. Banks earned margins linked to a debt to Ebitda grid. For the baht tranche, lenders were paid margins ranging from a floor of 260bp to a ceiling of 325bp. In the US dollar portion, margins ranged from a low of 100bp to a high of 145bp. Banks that participated in the previous fundraising were invited to attend the presentation. If they commit to this facility they will receive a fixed rate margin of 325bp. Responses are due by April 10. Size: Bt4bn Type: Two year term loan Arranger: Standard Chartered Margin: 325bp fixed rate Purpose: Refinancing Taiwan Universal Scientific has awarded separate mandates to Chinatrust Commercial Bank for a NT$1.5bn three year revolving credit and to Citibank (Taipei) for a $45m three year term loan. Banks receive a margin of 95bp over the CP fixing rate for the NT$1.5bn fundraising. Pricing details are being finalised for the $45m equivalent deal. The borrower last tapped the market guaranteeing a $100m equivalent fundraising for Huntington Holdings International and USI International, wholly owned subsidiaries of the borrower, in December 2000. That facility was divided between a $41m revolver paying a margin of 80bp over Libor, a NT$1bn guarantee facility with a guarantee fee of 80bp and a NT$1bn revolving credit paying a margin of 80bp over the CP fixing rate. Proceeds are for working capital purposes. Both facilities will be launched next week. International Commercial Bank of China has launched a NT$2.65bn 15 year fundraising for Onyx Ta-Ho Environment. The facility is divided into a NT$2.35bn term loan and a NT$300m guarantee facility. For the term loan, banks will earn a margin priced over the CEPD rate that begins at 140bp for the first five years, falls to 100bp between year six to year 10 and then to a low of 80bp for the remaining five years. Banks will earn an 80bp guarantee fee for the guarantee facility. Fees are set at a single level with participants earning 5bp for commitments of NT$150m. The borrower last came to the market in December 2002 with a NT$1.6bn fundraising arranged by Chinatrust Commercial Bank. The facility was divided between a NT$1.5bn 15 year term loan paying a margin ranging from 115bp to 60bp over the postal savings deposit rate and a NT$100m 15 year guarantee facility with a fee of 80bp. Proceeds from the latest facility are for the construction of an incineration plant in Yin Lin in Taiwan. Tranche 'A' Size: NT$2.35bn Type: 15 year term loan Margin: 140bp over CEPD (years one to five), 100bp over CEPD (years six to 10), 80bp over CEPD (years 11 to 15) Tranche 'B' Size: NT$300m Type: 15 year guarantee facility Guarantee fee: 80bp Arranger: International Commercial Bank of China Frontend fees: 5bp for NT$150m Purpose: Project financing Citibank (Taipei) has been awarded the mandate for a NT$5bn three year credit from optical and magnetic storage media product manufacturer CMC Magnetics. The deal will be split between a NT$4bn term loan priced at 110bp over the CP fixing rate and a NT$1bn guarantee facility. Proceeds will refinance a NT$3.9bn three year deal signed in 2002 that paid a margin of 220bp under the average prime rate of three Taiwanese commercial banks. The deal will be launched next week. Arranger Citibank (Taipei) has received commitments from over 20 banks for the NT$3bn three year fundraising for Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Despite the already strong response, the deal will be held open for a few extra days to allow some last banks to join the transaction. The NT$3bn five year term loan for Chia Her Industrial is progressing well, seven banks having joined so far with commitments totalling NT$2.58bn. Arrangers include Chinatrust Commercial Bank pledging NT$800m and First Commercial Bank committing NT$700m. Participants are: Chang Hwa Commercial Bank committing NT$300m, United Grand Commercial Bank NT$250m, Bank of Taiwan NT$230m, ICBC NT$200m and Grand Commercial Bank NT$100m. Arrangers are waiting for another bank to join before closing the facility. Proceeds are for debt repayment. Size: NT$3bn Type: Five year term loan Margin: 325bp over the average one year deposit rate of Chinatrust Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank Arrangers: Chinatrust Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank Fees: Commitment fee - 25bp Purposes: Debt repayment

Deutsche Bank has strengthened its Asian corporate finance division, stealing Eugene Qian from UBS Warburg to become director and head of utilities for Asia, a new role in the bank. Qian previously held a similar role in UBS, where he had worked for five years and was responsible for the coverage and execution of mandates from mainly Hong Kong and Chinese clients. He reports regionally to Phil Crotty, the head of global corporate finance in Asia, while he functionally reports to Rob Gray, the global head of energy, utilities and chemicals in London. He is in charge of a team of five utilities bankers, while the corporate finance division in Asia has about 100 senior staffers. "Eugene has extensive experience in the Asian utilities industry in both M&A and capital raising," said Crotty. "His recent focus on clients and transactions in China and Hong Kong will help develop further Deutsche Bank's franchise." n Meanwhile Young-Il Shin has jumped from Citibank to Deutsche Investment Trust Management (ITMC) in Korea to become the firm's new chief executive officer. Shin's appointment is a senior hire for the asset management firm, which has been looking for a new CEO after Won-Ik Lee resigned for personal reasons at the end of 2002. Shin reports to Choy Peng Wah, CEO of Deutsche Asset Management (DAM). "Shin will add tremendous value to our business through his outstanding business development and products marketing skills," Choy said. Shin is an established figure in Korea. Although at Citibank from 2001, he worked for LG Group for 18 years in various senior management positions. At Citibank, Shin headed business development for the consumer group, introducing credit insurance to local markets for the first time and monopolising the market, and also helping Citibank's card business to form an alliance with SK Group. Since receiving its license for Korea last year Deutsche ITMC has picked up Eu2bn in assets under management and advisory work. It aims to become one of the largest firms in the country in the next three years.