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Peter Quinn has resigned from J.P. Morgan Securities, where he was a v.p. and high-grade utility analyst, to join Goldman Sachs in a similar capacity, according to analysts familiar with the situation. He replaces Robert Rubin, who left for Deutsche Bank earlier this year. Quinn could not be reached for comment and his new title could not be determined. A call to Paula Dominick, head of credit research at Goldman Sachs, was not returned.

Solutia has extended its credit facility and reduced its borrowing capacity but will pay a steep price--an extra 400 basis points--for the change. The bank loan was to exire on Aug. 13 but will now expire in August 2004. In addition, the total credit was reduced by $200 million because the company did not need the excess borrowing capacity, explained Kevin Wilson, treasurer.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Wells Fargo Bank reportedly are close to filling the $350 million "B" term loan for San Francisco-based URS Corp. Bankers said the six-year "B" piece had gained $305 million in commitments as Loan Market Week went to press last week. The banks are asking for final commitments to be in before the accompanying $250 million senior note offering is priced, which is expected to happen later this month, one banker noted. Officials at the banks either declined to comment or did not return calls.

Deutsche Bank has flexed pricing upwards by 50 basis points on a refinancing for Commonwealth Brands, the Bowling Green, Ky., discount cigarette manufacturer. Investors said the credit, which comprises a $600 million "B" loan and a $17 million revolver, is fundamentally well liked, but pricing came in with too low of a spread. Pricing is now LIBOR plus 4%. Officials at Deutsche Bank did not return calls.

Bonds were "trying to edge higher" last week, according to the head of one high-yield desk. Charter Communications continued to move north on news that Paul Allen's long-rumored debt repurchase had taken the form of a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. American Tower's bonds rose five points after a positive earnings call, but at least one telecom analyst believes the move was unwarranted. Here was other action.

Hillenbrand Industries has tapped Banc of America Securities and Salomon Smith Barney as joint lead arrangers for its debut $500 million credit facility in preparation for acquisitions in the health care space. The Batesville, Ind., company, which operates in both the funeral and health care sectors, has indicated to the market it is hungry for acquisitions and has put in place the facilities so it can move quickly on potential targets, explained Mark Lanning, v.p. and treasurer. Hillenbrand is looking for acquisitions to increase revenue growth a further $100 million to $150 million, said Lanning. The targets will be in health care, where there are opportunities, rather than the funeral business, he added.

A $250 million "B" term loan for Hollinger International Publishing has come up against investors unprepared to accept skinny pricing and in a position to do something about it. TD Securities, Barclays Capital and Wachovia Bank flexed pricing upwards 50 basis points to LIBOR plus 31/ 2%, a clear indication that the supply-demand imbalance that has favored issuers for most of this year has swung the other way. "Banks have been very aggressive, and this should at least have come out at LIBOR plus 31/ 4%," said one investor, relieved that spreads are finally widening. Bankers at Wachovia declined to comment, and officials at Barclays and TD did not return calls.

John Griff, president and ceo of HSBC Securities USA, and Ferdie Masucci, head of capital markets, trading and research at the firm, have been let go, as reported on BondWeek.com last Thursday. Masucci declined to comment when reached at his home. Griff did not return calls placed to his home. Their dismissal follows the departure of some 12 senior salespeople, the majority of the debt capital markets group, at least two senior analysts and a senior trader (BW, 5/6, 6/9, 6/12, 7/28).

Crédit Agricole Indosuez is negotiating with investors in one of its collateralized loan obligations to ensure management of the vehicle stays with the French bank and is not transferred to competitor RBC Leveraged Capital. The CLO at issue is Indosuez Capital Funding VI, which contains a trigger that allows investors to switch the manager if key management leaves. But Crédit Agricole is disputing the grounds for the proposed switch and asserts that the vehicle has been reaffirmed and approved.

Greg Dube has left his position as head of global high-yield at Alliance Capital. The move was "by mutual agreement," says John Meyers, Alliance spokesman, who declined further comment. Dube took over the firm's estimated $10-11 billion in junk assets in Jan. 2001. He declined to comment. It was not known who would replace him at press time last Friday morning. The largest high-yield fund for which performance statistics were available on Morningstar.com, the $254 million Alliance High-Yield B, has lost 12.18% year-to-date, five percentage points worse than comparable funds in its category. The move comes amid other high level shifts at Alliance. Wayne Lyski, cio of fixed-income, will step down at year-end (BW, 8/5).

Pricing on the triple-A notes for American Express Asset Management Group's latest collateralized loan obligation came in slightly higher than market levels due, in part, to comments made by Chairman Kenneth Chenault last year. Following a $370 million loss on the American Express CDO portfolio, Chenault made headlines by saying the group "did not fully comprehend the risk underlying these structured investments during a period of persistently high default rates." Even though the losses were primarily in bond vehicles managed by the team in Minneapolis, not with the CLO deals managed by Lynn Hopton and Yvonne Stevens, analysts believe the comments made a difference. Repeated calls to the two managers and the AmEx press office were not returned.

Though an independent fixed-income analyst believes Tyco International's bonds are likely to appreciate, a high-grade portfolio manager says he is still a long way away from wading back into the credit. Terry Dwyer, analyst at KDP Investment Advisors, believes that the charges outlined in last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal against former ceo Dennis Kozlowski are not enough on their own to prevent the credit from recovering. "The allegations are strong, there's no denying that, but Tyco is a big giant to knock off its feet. It's bigger than any one man can do. So far I have not seen any evidence that the probe relates to anyone other than former executives," he says.