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Salomon Smith Barney and Credit Suisse First Boston last Tuesday launched a $331.9 million bank-debt package backing Texas Pacific Group's $675 million acquisition of Gate Gourmet, Swissair Group's airline catering business. Fort Worth-based TPG received the nod from a federal bankruptcy judge to purchase Gate Gourmet in October. The credit consists of a six-year, $150 million "B" loan and a $58.6 million, six-year "B" piece for European investors. Pricing on the institutional tranches is LIBOR plus 41/ 2%. The pro rata is broken down into a $50 million, multi-currency, five-year revolver and a $73.3 million Euro "A" loan, also with five year tenor. The spread is LIBOR plus 4% with a 1% facility fee on the revolver. Bankers at CSFB and Salomon did not return calls for comment.

Bank of America, Key Bank, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to close The Timken Company's $875 million line by Thursday. The line backs the Canton, Ohio, bearing manufacturer's $840 million purchase of Ingersoll-Rand's Torrington subsidiary. Bankers familiar with the deal said BANK ONE has signed onto the five-year, $500 million revolver as co-documentation agent with a $50 million ticket. The credit also includes a $375 million, 364-day revolving bridge-to-bond piece, with both tranches priced at LIBOR plus 11/ 2%. The BANK ONE commitment was the only one that could be confirmed and officials at the banks either declined to comment or did not return calls. It could not be determined whether the loan is underwritten.

Small pieces of Centennial Cellular and Western Wireless paper were said to have traded up last week from the high 60s to the 72-74 and 73-75 ranges, respectively. Wireless names have gained roughly 10 points as a whole over the last month and tower names are up about three to five points, noted one trader. Market players point to the stellar performance of industry-bellwether Nextel Communications as well as a generally more positive sentiment for telecom and related credits.

Xerox Corp.'s bank debt received a boost after investors digested the positive comments that the company's chairman and ceo, Anne Mulcahy, gave at an annual investor conference last Monday. Across the board, the company's bank debt was roughly two points higher, according to traders. Xerox's revolver was quoted in the 84 1/2 86 range. The market for the term loan "B" was at the 95-95 3/4 level, and pieces of the "A" paper are rumored to have changed hands in the 92 1/2 - 93 1/2 context.

GMAC-RFC Securities has hired Street veteran Michael Youngblood to head up its fledging research effort. Youngblood, whose first day is today, will be responsible for heading up GMAC-RFC's research in the mortgage-backed securities sector. Youngblood declined to comment. He will report to Rod McGuinness, the firm's president, and will issue relative-value opinions, develop indices to track the various MBS the firm issues as well as authoring a market surveillance report. Youngblood will be based in the firm's Bethesda, Md., office. GMAC-RFC is slated to receive Federal Reserve approval within the year to securitize and underwrite the loans it makes, according to an individual familiar with the firm. To date, the company has issued $27.3 billion in MBS and asset-backed securities.

Bucking the trend of issuers who have come to the institutional market as pro rata lenders pull back, Greater Media has refinanced a $200 million revolver into a larger pro rata deal with new relationship lenders, explained Ed Nolan, Greater Media's v.p. of finance. These new banks include SunTrust Bank, Rabobank, Citizens Bank, Credit Lyonnais, Sovereign Bank and Allfirst Bank. Nolan said the success of the deal was due to the company's good properties, low leverage and conservative management. "We looked like a relatively clean deal," said Nolan. The facility is in place for potential acquisitions, although Nolan said there is currently nothing in the pipeline.

Gulf Stream Asset Management, a Charlotte-based asset management shop, is in the market with its debut collateralized loan obligation, the $400 million Compass CLO 2002-1, and is ready to price notes within a week. President Mark Mahoney, who established Institutional Debt Management and was head of the capital markets group at Wachovia Securities and First Union, founded Gulf Stream in March this year. "We started marketing Compass in August, and utilizing a revolver we have been patiently warehousing assets," said Mahoney. The deal is approximately 50% warehoused, he added, noting Barclays Capital is the underwriter. "We have been buying in a very attractive period," he stated.

Hughes Electronics' recently amended bank loan poses a refinancing risk to lenders due to the loan's short tenor, according to Moody's Investors Service. Encountering a Dec. 5 maturity for its $2 billion revolving credit facility, Hughes pushed out the expiration date for the paper until either Aug. 31, 2003 or the close of Hughes' merger with EchoStar Communications, depending on which event comes first. In conjunction with the extension, Hughes also remodeled the credit into a $700 million revolver and a $600 million term loan. GMAC is the sole lender on an additional $500 million revolver. The loan has received a Ba3 rating from Moody's and is on review for possible downgrade pending the outcome of the proposed merger.

High-yield portfolio managers are being forced to bone up on the utility sector as downgrades send more and more issuers into their indices. With last week's downgrade of El Paso Corp. (Ba2/BBB) by Moody's Investors Service, they now must contend with the fact that two of the five largest components in the Merrill Lynch High-Yield Master II index are in the utilities sector (Williams Companies is the other). Utilities now comprise 7.9% of the index and have a market value of $32.2 billion. That compares to 4.8% and $13 billion just two years ago.

Banca Populare di Intra, a regional Italian bank, is in the market with a E486.5 million offering backed by residential and commercial mortgages. The deal, Intra Mortgage Finance 1, is being structured and lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, say market officials. Calls to the CSFB syndication desk in London were not returned by press time last Tuesday.

Lehman Brothers has released four people from its high-yield division- three in Europe and one in the U.S., according to a senior high-yield official with knowledge of the moves. The European cutbacks are a response to an overall weak environment for junk there, though the firm retains an estimated 15 people in high-yield trading, sales and research who are based in London, says the official. Among those let go is Mahtab Vanjanni, a London-based senior v.p. in high-yield sales. Chris Cooke, head of high-yield sales in London, referred calls to Stewart Prosser, a company spokesman, who says, through a colleague, that the firm has made "small adjustments across all divisions and regions to reflect the challenging environment."