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Bank of America and Bear Stearns are shopping a $255 million credit for Nexstar Broadcasting Group in order to back an undisclosed acquisition. The deal is split between a $175 million "B" term loan and an $80 million revolver, however, the pricing has not yet been determined. The credit is set to launch on Jan. 14. B of A and Bear Stearns officials declined to comment.

Energy names were received with open arms last week as investors returning from vacation jumped all over Calpine Corp. paper andAES Corp.'s refurbished credit facility. Investors have become more comfortable with the collateral packages, noted one buysider, and pieces of AES's revolver, "A" term loan, and "C" tranche changed hands at 91-92, 95 1/2 96 1/2, and 93-94, respectively. Across the board, the credit is one-two points stronger since before the holidays. "AES bank debt has been ticking up primarily because vulture funds are playing the capital spreads," said Jon Kyle Cartwright, a fixed income analyst with Raymond James & Associates.

Michael Levitt, an ex-partner at Hicks, Muse Tate & Furst is reportedly buying up assets for his new investment shop, Stone Tower Capital, a new buyside firm formed to manage assets through CLO vehicles. Levitt is chairman of the New York-based buyside outfit, which initially intends to manage an approximately $600 million loan portfolio, according to market sources. Officials at Stone Tower declined comment on plans for a new CLO, how many people are now working there and when the firm began buying assets. Questions were referred to Levitt, who did not return calls for comment by press time.

Short Squeeze Seen For American Tower

Hartford Investment Management Company has hired Nasri Toutoungi as a senior v.p. and lead portfolio manager of its flagship core and core-plus style bond mutual funds. Toutoungi joins from Blackrock Financial Management. Andy Kohnke, managing director and a spokesman for the firm, says HIMCO has been growing assets and had been recruiting Toutoungi for several months to beef up its portfolio management team. Toutoungi takes over one of the roles that had been filled by Alison Granger, who retired at the end of last year to spend time with her family, Kohnke says. Granger could not be reached, and Toutoungi referred calls to Kohnke.

Investors eager to put money to work piled into the paper of Dex Media East, R.H. Donnelley, and Bell Actimedia last week, sparking more than $100 million in trades in the directories business names. Traders said a comprehensive market mix was trying to buy into these deals, with sellers only looking to trade over par. Both Dex and Donnelly traded north of 101 and Actimedia clocked in as high as 100 3/8.

J.P. Morgan and Bear Stearns last week launched syndication of American Media's add-on $140 million "C" loan to investors with a coupon of LIBOR plus 3%. One investor felt the spread is short of the market's demand. "It's a little tight," he said, pointing to the company's leverage multiples of 6.3 times. Moody's Investors Service rated the add-on Ba3, reflecting several factors including moderate cash flow (see story, page 8). A J.P. Morgan official did not return calls, while a Bear Stearns official declined to comment.

Bank of America is leading a $350 million refinancing deal for Central Parking. The credit, set to launch Wednesday, includes a $175 million "B" loan and a revolver for the same amount. The deal will be stock-secured with a springing lien, whereby the lenders have a right to collateralize the credit with the borrower's assets, said a banker. The credit will refinance a $400 million facility that is also equally split between a $200 million "B" piece and a $200 million revolver.

Nextel Communications was an active mover in the secondary market last week as the company came out with bullish statements for its performance in 2003. Traders said a plethora of paper from all tranches of the company's bank debt was bought by retail investors and traded in the street. Pieces of the "B/C" tranches were said to have changed hands between the 94 7/8 95 3/8 context, up from the 93 level.

Hercules has completed a $325 million refinancing deal that alleviates some of the chemical company's debt load of $1.3 billion. Hercules tapped $125 million of its new $200 million "B" term loan in order to pay off its 61/ 8% senior notes that were scheduled to come due this June, said Stuart Shears, v.p. and treasurer. There were reported rumblings at launch that the credit might hit some bumps because of asbestos-related issues, but the deal was oversubscribed with about 30 institutions signing on at close.

WEEKLY UPDATE

SWS Securities, a financial services firm with fixed income sell-side operations in six U.S. cities, is hoping to hire as many as 10 corporate bond salespeople for its New York office. Rob Nash, the firm's Dallas-based head of fixed-income, says SWS Securities has been looking to increase its fixed-income presence for several months. The effort got an important boost, he says, when the firm persuaded Andrew Conway to join in New York as senior v.p. and head of corporate bond trading. Conway resigned from RBC Capital Markets at the end of last year to take what he says is "a phenomenal opportunity with a growth firm." He had worked at the firm for 25 years as a corporate bond trader. A call to Simon Ling, Conway's former boss at RBC, was not returned.