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Goldman Sachs' $250 million "B" piece for Sanmina-SCI Corp. has closed oversubscribed with an extra $50 million coming in. "A number of institutional investors are throwing in 10% or more," said a banker familiar with the deal. He declined to name any investors on the facility. The loan is priced at LIBOR plus 4-41/ 4%, with a 1% original issue discount, the banker stated, adding that pricing could go towards the tight end now that the line is oversubscribed. Despite filling, final commitments on the credit are due this Wednesday. Allocations will probably be cut back, as capacity is unlikely to be increased, he said. A Goldman official declined to comment.

Caja de Ahorros de Valencia, Castellón y Alicante (Bancaja) and BankInter are both looking to price residential mortgage-backed securities before the end of the year. BankInter is structuring and lead-managing its own E710 million deal, which according a banker familiar with BankInter's plans, will be kept on-balance sheet for funding use through the repo market.

Three state pension funds are considering moves into distressed debt, joining a growing list of funds looking to appoint distressed debt managers. Illinois State Teachers Retirement System, Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund and The Florida State Board of Administration are all in various stages of reviewing potential allocations to distressed debt. The continued influx should provide a support level for distressed debt prices over the coming months. "For the second time in the last 12 years, there is a surge in investing by pension funds in distressed debt," said Gary Robertson, senior v.p. for pension fund consultants Callan Associates. "It's fairly evident from the numbers being published by Edward Altman there is a huge supply of distressed debt," he offered. He declined to comment specifically on any pension fund.

Odeon Cinemas Ltd., the largest cinema chain in the U.K. is planning to securitize cinema ticket cash flow next year, say London-based asset-backed bankers. It could not be learned if the company has mandated an investment bank to lead manage the deal. Odeon is said to be planning to raise E300 million. Repeated phone calls to an investor relations officer at Odeon's headquarters in London were not returned.

Bank of America has more than $75 million in commitments for Vanguard Health Systems' $150 million, add-on "B" term loan that back's the company's $295 million acquisition of five hospitals from Baptist Health System. Investors are keen on the credit's asset coverage, said a banker familiar with the deal, declining to name any specific investors that signed on. Moody's Investors Service rated the company's senior implied rating at B1 on account of the credit's strong security package (LMW 12/9).

Wachovia Securities added Liz Fitzpatrick as a director for its high-yield sales team, according to Jim Pierpoint, a spokesman at the Charlotte, N.C. based firm. With Fitzpatrick the HY sales team now comprises eight staffers. She will report to Gary Palmer, managing director and co-head of the high-yield desk with Tim Dowling. The position is a newly created slot. Palmer did not return calls. Fitzpatrick could not be reached to comment.

Roughly $30 million of El Paso Corp. bank debt is rumored to have traded in two pieces last week out of the same commercial bank. The trades went off in the 85 range, according to market players. El Paso's bank debt initially plunged from the 90s after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission disclosed that the company's pipeline subsidiary would be held responsible for withholding capacity from California during the state's 2000/2001 energy crisis (LMW, 9/30). Dwight Scott, El Paso cfo, could not be reached by press time. The bank responsible for the trades could not be determined.

Recent downgrades and investigations into trading activities of El Paso Corp. (Ba2/BB) have created a quandary for holders of the roughly $800 million in bonds issued by El Paso Limited Energy Partners (EPN). Financially troubled El Paso Corp. is a general partner with a 42% stake in EPN (B1/BB+). When El Paso was an investment-grade credit, it was seen as a possible boon to EPN bondholders, but since it has fallen to junk some fear an El Paso bankruptcy could drag EPN down with it. Standard & Poor's recently issued a report saying the two entities are "tethered," and put the partnership on creditwatch for a potential downgrade, and the EPN bonds traded down as a result. However, at least two sell-side analysts and one buy-sider say the entities are entirely separate and the EPN bonds are cheap. If the latter group is correct, they stand to make substantial gains, as spreads have widened some 200 basis points or more on several issues.

Four Corners Capital Management, the asset management company headed by loan veteran Michael McAdams, has been forced to put its debut collateralized loan obligation Mondrian CDO I on the backburner after failing to raise the debt for the vehicle. The event is surprising to many loan players as McAdams, president and chief investment officer of Four Corners, is considered to be an institution in the loan market and other firms have been raising debt successfully in the last few weeks. Four Corners is staffed primarily with ex-ING Capital Advisors people, with most individuals having been involved in at least 14 deals. McAdams did not return repeated calls for comment.

Zais Group originated its second collateralized debt obligation of CDOs of the year. Called Zing V, the $400 million transaction was underwritten by Deutsche Bank. The deal, which is backed almost entirely by other CDOs, is set to close Thursday. Calls to the syndicate desk at Deutsche Bank were not returned by press time last Thursday. Christian Zugel, president of the Red Bank, N.J.-based asset management firm, declined to comment. Zais is a collateral manager that specializes in CDOs of CDOs and is said to have launched the first deal of this type with its Zing I transaction in 1999.

London & Continental Railways Ltd. has put a £1.6 billion securitization of track access fees out to bid to investment banks, say industry officials. The rail company operates the high-speed rail link between the Channel Tunnel and Central London. This deal will be the company's fourth.

Soon-to-be-passed legislation in Italy will make it possible to execute whole business securitizations and, accordingly, investment banks are getting equipped to start structuring deals. Market experts expect the specially designed legislation to be enacted next year and are bullish on the prospect for deals. "Money costs more for Italian corporate bond issuers, because banks are less willing to lend," says Marco Grimaldi, a securitization banker at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London. Grimaldi says "ring-fencing" operating assets with a steady cash flow and borrowing against them makes economic sense for Italian corporations.