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MBNA Bank Europe is said to be planning its first European deal of the year, and it may come as soon as this month, according to London-based bankers. Vernon Wright, executive vice-chairman and chief corporate finance chief at MBNA's world headquarters in Wilmington, Del., declined to say what the timing of any European deals would be. He did say, however, to expect to see euro- and sterling-denominated deals from the credit card giant this year.

A group of Hayes Lemmerz International bank debt holders are seeking a reorganization plan separate from the one pursued by CIBC World Markets, which is agent to the pre-petition lenders who hold about $750 million in claims. The exact details of the plans could not be determined, but investors said the plan pursued by the dissident lenders would likely offer lenders more juice. Officials from CIBC and its counsel did not return calls by press time.

Trainer Wortham is wrapping up a $300 million multi-sector collateralized debt obligation, according to a CDO market participant. It is the third CDO for this New York-based collateral manager and its first this year. Pricing is slot for the early part of this month. Credit Suisse First Boston is the underwriter. Calls to Chris Ricciardi, head of CSFB's structured credit product group, and to John Knox, head of fixed-income at Trainer Wortham, were not returned by press time.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) has secured an upsized, $350 million multi-year credit facility in anticipation of reducing its shorter-term borrowings, said Morton Plawner, treasurer of PSEG. The shorter-term borrowings include $695 million of commercial paper backstop facilities coming due in March. "We don't want all of our facilities to be 364-days," noted Plawner. He explained the company wants to relieve the pressure of refinancing each year and the new credit comes with the support of the rating agencies.

Greg Coules has joined J. P. Morgan Securities in a newly created position as a v.p. and distressed loan analyst, according to sell-side officials with knowledge of the hire. Coules was one of a number of high-yield professionals released from Morgan Stanley in November (BW, 11/19). He had spent three years at Morgan Stanley covering the broadcasting sector. Coules declined comment when reached at J. P. Morgan. He will report to Eric Rosen, managing director and head of the loan trading group. Rosen declined comment.

Art Penn, the ex-global co-head of leveraged finance at UBS Warburg, has resurfaced at French bank CDC IXIS North America and is said to be looking to set up a middle-market leveraged finance shop. Penn did not return repeated calls regarding his plans, but several market players said a leveraged finance outfit is in the works. A spokesman for CDC said Penn is working within the ABS group alongside Joe Piscina, former head of asset-backed finance at PaineWebber. He noted that nothing has been approved and as a state-controlled entity, CDC is very risk averse. "CDC is taking its time to expand its ABS business," he said.

Ex-UBSW Honcho Making Plans

Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have five tickets in hand and are closing in on another in their retail effort for Tyco International's $1.5 billion credit. ABN AMRO, Credit Lyonnais, Société Générale, UBS Warburg and CIBC World Markets signed onto the fully underwritten deal with $100 million bids from each, according to bankers familiar with the facility. All of those commitments came in ahead of the launch meeting last Monday. A banker added that Scotia Capital was reportedly close to joining as LMW went to press last Thursday.

The junk desk of FleetBoston Financial is reportedly weighing a move from New York, either to the firm's Boston headquarters or to another branch office, according to high-yield officials on the buy- and sell-sides who have spoken with people at the firm. Calls to Scott Vallar, one of the heads of the New York operation, and John Agnew, trading head, were not returned. Rivals say the move could conceivably be part of a cost-cutting drive although this could not be confirmed.

Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank, based in Mainz, is planning to launch its first residential mortgage-backed securitization in the first half this year. Martin Weber, senior v.p., says the firm will pursue a E1 billion synthetic deal through the Provide platform sponsored by Kreditanstalt fur Wiesbaden, a state-owned German bank. The Provide program was started by KfW to simplify the securitization process for German banks. The bank is organizing a RMBS for regulatory capital relief purposes, says Weber.

Annie Pankoski is the latest addition to ABN AMRO's loan team as the bank bulks up on personnel in an effort to increase its presence in the loan market. Pankoski recently left Goldman Sachs, where she was a v.p. in loan syndications and trading, said an ABN spokesman. She began working at ABN as a v.p. of loan sales last Monday. Pankoski will be working with Susan Greenwood and Alexander Byers, who joined the bank's distribution team last August. She will report to John Finan, managing director of U.S. loan syndication global financial markets at ABN. An official from Goldman declined to comment and a spokeswoman did not return calls by press time.

Career Education has chosen Bank of America over incumbent LaSalle Bank to lead an upsized credit facility to be used for acquisitions. Patrick Pesch, Career Education cfo, explained that the company actively shopped the deal, putting out a detailed request for proposals. "We looked at Bank of America as having a slight edge," said Pesch, adding that the bank had a good understanding of Career Education's business and of how the credit would be used. B of A structured the credit to provide flexibility so that the company could pursue future acquisitions, he added. LaSalle Bank still participates on the deal as a co-syndication agent.