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Raymond James & Associates Inc. is looking to hire two to four additional salespeople with experience in high-yield or high-grade fixed-income. Larry Haag, New York branch manager for the St. Petersburg, Fla. firm, says Raymond James has gradually been growing its corporate bond business for the past eight years and the new hires would be consistent with that effort. He says he has already begun interviewing for the positions.

RCN Corp.'s bank debt has climbed up almost 20 points over the last month amid murmurs that a possible amendment could be in the works. Pieces of the company's "B" loan were said to have traded up as high as 80 two weeks ago before settling down in the 77-79 context. "It's no secret that our balance sheet is such that we would like to reduce the debt," said Jim Downing, a RCN investor relations spokesperson, declining to comment further on a possible amendment.

Ed Shugrue, the former chief financial officer of Capital Trust, has launched his own firm, ES Capital Management, and is set to raise capital for a fund that will invest in high-yield real estate debt, according to BW sister publication Real Estate Finance & Investment. Shugrue, a veteran of the commercial real estate industry, said he is hoping to raise $150-300 million in the next six to 12 months for the as yet unnamed fund. With leverage, the fund will have up to $1 billion in buying power will target high-yield commercial real estate debt, including mezzanine debt, commercial mortgage-backed securities, B-notes, preferred equity, listed debt securities and collateralized debt obligations. Shugrue is talking with potential investors but acknowledges that current geopolitical uncertainties might prolong the capital raising period. "It's not an easy time in the world right now," he said.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), which manages roughly £23 billion in fixed-income assets, is planning to add to its corporate credit research team on a select basis. Alan Reid, global head of bonds in Edinburgh, says the European credit market continues to grow, creating the need to bring more analysts on board. Reid says the hires will likely be at a junior level and that the firm does not have a specific number of hires in mind.

Sonic Automotive added Bank of America to its credit facility syndicate when it redid its deal this month in order to break into the traditional bank lending market. The automotive retailer never had a bank lender on its loans before, explained Theodore Wright, cfo. He stated that "captive" auto lenders, such as those in the present syndicate-- Ford Motor Credit, DaimlerChrysler Services North America and Toyota Motor Credit-- had historically provided Sonic's long-term financing. "Over the long term, we are going to be interested in obtaining [loan] financing," he said of future bank lending transactions. He added that B of A was selected to join the credit because of the bank's long relationship with the company through past bond deals and other transactions.

UBS Warburg is fully underwriting a $125 million credit that backs Serologicals' acquisition of Chemicon International. The deal includes a five-year, $100 million "B" loan and a $25 million revolver. Bud Ingalls, Serologicals' cfo, said the deal should hit the market next week, noting that this is a debut "B" loan for the company. Ingalls explained that the company was advised that the institutional piece would receive the best reception in the market.

Deutsche Bank Capital is wrapping up Silver Leaf, a collateralized debt obligation backed by private equity funds, according to a CDO market participant. DBC is the New York-based private equity arm of Deutsche Bank, which is underwriting the $463 million alternative asset CDO for pricing next month. The deal is a static structure in which DBC, the collateral manager, is moving a pool of 65 private equity partnerships from its own portfolio off balance sheet. The structure will be rated by all three rating agencies, considered rather unusual for an alternative asset CDO. This may be due to the fact that the static structure is a relatively simple one in which the collateral manager directly provides the funds. Calls to Chuck Flynn, portfolio manager at Deutsche Bank Capital, were not returned. Brian Zeitlin, global head of CDOs at DB, was on vacation and unable to comment.

Jack DiMaio, the departing head of fixed-income for North America at Credit Suisse First Boston (BW, 2/17), plans to start a hedge fund when he joins Credit Suisse Asset Management. He has also enlisted three senior traders to follow him to CSAM, including Nasser Ahmad and Tim Joyce, managing directors and co-heads of corporate bond trading at CSFB.

Nextel Communications' bank debt ran up about two points and then settled back down as "B" and "C" pieces traded between 95-96 after the company earnings report signaled a strong year ahead. "They just reiterated what they've been telling people for the last two months," noted one buysider, adding that there was no bad news. The paper settled in the 94 1/2 95 1/2 context after a number of investors selling on the way up put pressure on the price. The tremendous supply will limit how far this one can trade up, noted one dealer.

Veenman is also a board member of GMAC RFC Nederland, an originator of mortgages in the Dutch market, based in the Hague. In addition to the business in the Netherlands, GMAC RFC is also active in Germany and France.