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R.H. Donnelley's $1.6 billion credit facility backing the acquisition of the Sprint Publishing Assets (SPA) is bolstered by the directory business' trademark as collateral for the bank debt. "What's valuable about the acquisition is the trademark," noted Moody's Investors Service senior credit officer Christina Padgett. Moody's has assigned the credit a Ba3 rating. The Sprint trademark will be contributed to a bankruptcy remote Special Purpose Vehicle and if a different carrier were to purchase any Sprint assets, the buyer would assume Sprint's obligations with respect to R.H. Donnelley. "You want to make sure that you have access to that trademark," said Padgett.

TD Securities and Credit Suisse First Boston have filled the "B" piece for Tucson Electric Power and then some, with close to $400 million in commitments, said a banker familiar with the deal. The $200 million "B" loan closed late last Wednesday, while the rest of the pro rata -- a $60 million revolver and $140 million "A" term loan -- are set to close this week. TD and CSFB are waiting on a couple more commitments, he said. Pricing was flexed up a hefty 2% on the "B" tranche to LIBOR plus 51/ 2%, while the deal was sold with a 1% upfront fee. Pro rata pricing increased 1% to LIBOR plus 4%, he noted. Additionally, the banks threw in six-month call protection at 101, a buysider said. Bankers at TD and CSFB declined to comment and officials at Tucson did not return calls.

Tesoro Petroleum ticked up with small trades in the 89-91 context after the company was able to capitalize on the decreasing cost of crude oil. "Crack spreads have improved dramatically over the last month," one trader noted, adding the improvement would have a huge impact on the company's EBITDA.

Peter O'Malley has left his position as a director in the debt capital markets department at Credit Suisse First Boston, according to a person familiar with the situation. He did not return a call to his home, and neither his reason for leaving nor his future plans could be determined. Peter Milhaupt, CSFB's head of U.S. debt capital markets, would not comment on whether O'Malley had been let go.

High-yield portfolio managers and at least one strategist remain wary of adding risk despite a continued rally at the lowest rungs of the credit ladder, as money managers look for someplace to invest the cash that had been sitting on the sidelines before year-end. Through the five-week period that ended Nov. 14, distressed credits have returned a whopping 13.48%, versus 6.27% for all of high-yield, according to data provided by Bear Stearns. Wireline telecom, one of the most beaten up sectors over the last two years, returned 22% over that period, following large gains in WorldCom and Qwest Communications.

Some $30 million of AES Corp. paper was said to have traded in the 81-82 context last week, with market players saying the paper changed hands because of fears that a refinancing will not be completed. The paper has trickled down from the 84-87 range, where it was trading in early October following the refinancing announcement. "It would make sense that people would want to get out from under this thing," said Jon Kyle Cartwright, a fixed income analyst with Raymond James & Associates. "The credit markets should be closed to AES. The industry as a whole is having trouble getting financing." Repeated calls to Barry Sharp, cfo, and Sandra Ross, a company spokeswoman, were not returned by press time.

The ratings of Midwestern food wholesale company Nash Finch have been placed on "rating watch negative" by Fitch Ratings after the company announced it is under an informal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission and has postponed third quarter earnings results. The ratings include the BB bank credit facility and the B+ senior subordinated debt, affecting $380 million of debt. The SEC is investigating practices and procedures relating to certain promotional allowances provided to the company by its vendors that reduce the cost of goods sold, according to Fitch.

Morgan Stanley is preparing a E300 million commercial mortgage-backed securitization of a single property in Paris, according to London-based bankers. The deal, ELOC12, will securitize Paris' largest office complex called Zeus. Calls to Steve White, co-head of European securitization at Morgan Stanley in London, were not returned.

J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and UBS Warburg have thrown in a bunch of investor-friendly concessions on the bank deal backing the buyout of National Waterworks, including a funky yield protection clause. The feature has been introduced into the documentation so if a new add-on is attempted, the yield has to be within a similar range as the existing loan, explained a banker. The spread can be 25 basis points wide, but this prevents the old loan from trading down if a richer priced add-on credit is introduced, he added.

With a further $4 billion of investment-grade deals being launched this week, the primary market continues to print at a much healthier pace than was seen during October. Month-to-date volume of over $12 billion puts us well on target to print $25-30 billion before the quieter holiday period descends. The high-yield sector has also seen good volumes with $1.5 billion issued this week. The four-week moving average deal size is creeping up from the lows as the week saw the launch of three billion dollar deals and the increase in risk appetite is also evident in the average rating falling back toward the single-A level.

Credit Suisse First Boston has priced the notes for Barclays Capital Asset Management's Venture CDO II, allowing at least one manager to leave the pipeline and start ramping up assets. The cash-flow arbitrage vehicle is a $250 million collateralized loan obligation, said a banker. The liabilities priced within the current range, which is somewhere south of LIBOR plus 58 basis points on triple-A's, he said. Though the triple-B tranche is small at $12.25 million, he said the overall structure is reasonably standard. "One of the goals is to maximize the size of the triple-A tranche, as this is the least expensive debt," he noted. The equity piece for the deal is $23.75 million.

John Leupp has been released from his position as an analyst covering gaming at Credit Suisse First Boston, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Leupp could not be reached, and Tom Klamka, co-head of high-yield research at CSFB, did not return calls. It could not be determined whether the firm plans to replace him.