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O'Charley's has completed a $300 million credit facility after an upward price flex and a structural shuffling of the deal. Wachovia Securities leads the credit, which at launch consisted of a $150 million "B" piece priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 2% and a $135 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 21/ 4%. However, the six-year "B" was whittled down to $100 million and its spread increased to 4% over LIBOR. The four-year revolver was increased to $200 million and priced on a grid ranging from LIBOR plus 21/ 4-23 /4%. The current revolver rate is LIBOR plus 23/ 4%, said Chad Fitzhugh, cfo. He added that investor demand warranted the structural changes. "The revolver was well subscribed," he noted. Some bank lenders reportedly piled on in hopes of developing a relationship with the company.

Owens Corning bank debt has been sparking the market over the last week with more than $70 million in trades. The paper traded into the 70s, but bids had retreated to the high 60s when LMW went to press. The bank debt surged from the mid-60s as the market digested information regarding the discussion of asbestos liability limitations.

One buy-side and one sell-side analyst predict homebuilder M.D.C. Holdings will receive an investment-grade rating from Standard & Poor's, a development that will open the door for the company's bonds to appreciate.

Patina Oil & Gas Corp. has increased the size of its revolver and enlisted five new banks to provide the extra capacity. The new $500 million, four-year facility replaces a $200 million facility that was set to expire in July. The reason for the increase is two-fold, according to David Kornder, executive v.p. and cfo. Patina is looking to use the facility to assist in funding a number of acquisitions and accommodate the larger company, he said. The company recently announced plans to acquire the remaining half of a joint venture Elysium Energy. This move comes on the back of purchasing Bravo Natural Resources and Le Norman Energy Corp. late last year.

Pilot Travel Centers has completed a $250 million credit, downsized from a proposed $355 million deal, in order to back its $190 million acquisition of Williams TravelCenters. The company originally planned a $105 million, one-year bridge loan as part of the deal, but no longer needed it because of the delay in the acquisition's closing date into this year, said Jeffrey Cornish, v.p. of finance and cfo. The postponement allowed Pilot Travel more time to complete an $85 million add-on private placement deal with J.P. Morgan, he explained, so the bridge was no longer required (LMW, 1/13). Wachovia Securities leads the new facility.

Portuguese residential mortgage-backed securitizations have been pricing and trading at tight levels thanks to investors seeking to diversify their portfolios, according to London-based MBS investors and analysts. The Portuguese RMBS market's recent deals have been priced just outside those from the well-established Dutch market. "The demand for diverisification has exceeded the demand for benchmark names," says one securitization analyst.

Managing director, lead portfolio manager of collateralized debt obligations and director of fixed-income research at State Street Research & Management. The Boston-based subsidiary of Metlife closed one asset-backed securities CDO last year--the $400 million Fort Point transaction.

GoldenTree Asset Management has hired Corey Geis, a bank loan trader from TD Securities. At GoldenTree he will trade loans and also high-yield bonds, equities, and other securities, according to a senior buyside official. He will report to trading heads Josh Press and Linda Grillo. Geis declined comment when reached at his desk and Grillo did not return a call. At TD Securities, Geis worked in loan sales and trading and reported to Mark Sorensen, trading head, and Greg Hurley, sales head. Sorensen declined to comment.

Regal Entertainment Group has earned a two-notch ratings boost by Moody's Investors Service, which upped its ratings on Regal's $145 million revolver and $225 million term loan to Ba2 from B1. The upgrade comes on strong operating performance and the expectation that the financial position will strengthen in 2003.

TRW Automotive's $900 million "B" loan is chugging along with more than half of the institutional piece filled as LMW went to press last week. A banker familiar with the deal said it should fill out soon because the concurrent $1.58 billion bond issuance-- the largest junk bond sale in two years-- hit the market last week. He added that interest has picked up in Europe's retail commitments as well. The facility launched in Europe to retail on Jan. 17. It launched on Jan. 27 in the U.S. Credit Suisse First Boston, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are leading the deal. Bankers on the credit either declined to comment or did not return calls.

Simon Adamson and Helen Rodriguez, two of Deutsche Bank's European research heads, have left the firm. Adamson, who headed European corporate and financial institution credit research, left last week, and Rodriguez, head of European high-yield research, left two weeks ago, according to a firm insider. It could not be learned if the pair have joined other firms.

Two more distressed debt shops are ramping up as players continue to look to capitalize on the mass of defaulting companies. Former Cerberus Capital Management portfolio manager Joyce Johnson-Miller is preparing a private equity fund and a hedge fund that will focus on distressed debt and a group from Octagon Holdings and Instinet have started a distressed debt shop. The Los Angeles-based firm, Altus Global Investors, plans to launch its first distressed debt fund before the end of the first quarter, said Stephen Sanderson, co-founder, who was the former head of institutional sales effort for the West Coast for Instinet.