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Deutsche Bank last week launched syndication of a $700 million refinancing for Graham Packaging, part of a wider plan to extend the maturities of its long-term debt, reduce interest expense and improve flexibility. The new loan is split into a $550 million "B" loan and a $150 million revolver, both priced at LIBOR plus 2 1/2 %. The current institutional tranches are priced at LIBOR plus 3%. A banker said Graham also is issuing $100 million of senior subordinated notes via Deutsche Bank and Salomon Smith Barney.

Dealers are taking a look at Farmland Industries, which filed for bankruptcy at the end of May. Spreads are wide in the high 80s to low 90s, and no trades could be confirmed. Although the $350 million asset-based revolver is fully backed and bank debt holders could receive substantial recovery if liquidated, negotiations to recover the loan could be tough because the company's members also are the holders of its subordinated notes.

Seneca Capital Management has made a number of new hires, according to Gail Seneca, the San Francisco buy-side firm's cio and ceo. They are Tom Haag, a high-yield portfolio manager, Troy Grande, a mortgage- and asset-backed portfolio manager, Fred Goetsky, a corporate bond analyst, Cory Kilpack, a credit analyst from American General, and Bob Bishop, a corporate bond trader and analyst. Seneca says she now considers the firm fully staffed.

Tech, telecom, and cable names all took a beating last week, or as one trader put it: "If it beeped or flashed, it crashed." Energy, chemicals, and gaming were all relatively quiet. Airlines were slightly weaker due to the "dirty bomb" scare. Here is some other action.

Jefferies & Co. will underwrite a $210 million eight-year issue of senior secured notes in a Rule 144A offering by Riviera Casinos, according to Duane Krohn, Riviera's treasurer. The issue, which will be used to take out notes maturing in '04 and '05, is expected to price early this week. A call toSteve Baker, a senior capital markets official at Jefferies, was referred to Tom Tarrant, a company spokesman, who declined comment.

At least three high-yield portfolio managers say they are considering adding to their cable sector allocations as the woes of Adelphia Communications have created considerable weakness in what had only a short time ago been one of the strongest sectors in all of high-yield. "We've been as conservative as possible to this point, but at some time, and maybe that time is now, there may be opportunity if you take a longer term view," saysPaul Ocenasek of Aid Association for Lutherans/Lutheran Brotherhood. Ocenasek says AALLB has a roughly 6% weighting in the sector, while he estimates other funds have a weighting of 8%. He says that while AALLB may eventually want to allocate as much as 10% to the cable sector, it will only do so once ongoing concerns about accounting issues are resolved.

Two high-yield portfolio managers say they no longer see value in the high-yield homebuilding sector, but a respected sell-side analyst says it is too soon to reduce exposure. One East Coast manager of over $1 billion says he is considering reducing exposure because he is concerned that eventual rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and a still cloudy unemployment picture could cause demand for homes to slacken.

Lehman Brothers last Tuesday launched syndication of a $1.05 billion refinancing for Six Flags Theme Parks, a deal that includes a repriced $600 million "B" loan. The current investor appetite for "B" paper and Six Flags' need to refinance within the next two years were the drivers behind the decision to return to the market, notedJim Dannhauser, cfo.

Extendicare Health Services is looking to take out its revolver borrowings and "A" and "B" paper through a $150 million senior note offering. The long-term care operator also is negotiating a new $100 million revolver, noted Philip Small, senior v.p. of strategic planning. "There is some debt that is due in 2003, and we see the market as good for healthcare high-yield right now," said Small. Replacing the term loans with notes extends the maturity to 2010 and leaves the revolver undrawn, he added.

Oren Cohen left Merrill Lynch last Wednesday, where he was a managing director and media analyst, to join Trilogy Capital, a New York hedge fund. "I feel I've done everything I set out to do on the sell-side. This is an opportunity to do something else," he says.

Merrill Lynch has hired Drew Nugent as a v.p. in its global asset finance group. Nugent will report to Michael Blum, the managing director who heads the origination team in New York. Nugent says he will be a transactor on non-real estate ABS deals, focusing on a broad range of asset classes. An ABS banker says Nugent is filling in a slot left vacant with the recent departure of Richard Burke for HSBC Securities (BW, 6/10). With the addition of Nugent, Merrill's global asset finance group in New York is comprised of seven staffers, including Blum, four bankers, one analyst and one risk manager. At Lehman, Nugent worked in the origination team, reporting to Diane Rinnovatore, managing director. He declined to discuss his former duties. Prior to working with Lehman, Nugent was an analyst with Fitch Ratings, specializing in aircraft securitizations. Rinnovatore did not return calls.

Merrill Lynch is reportedly trying to lure back Chris Birosak, just a week after letting go Jack Yang, co-head of leveraged finance. As first reported on LMW's Web site last week, Birosak would not be coming in as a replacement for Yang. Instead, he would join in an effort to bolster a team that has been whittled down over the past six months. The revolving door at Merrill has some wondering about the firm's commitment to the syndicated finance market. "The firm is going through turmoil," said a banker. "Re-hiring Birosak is an attempt to say Merrill is still committed to syndicated finance, but re-hiring one of five they got rid of seems symbolic." Merrill laid off 16 people -- including Birosak, Chris Johnson, Michael Senft -- from its U.S. leveraged group last November. Matthew Collins, global co-head of leveraged finance, resigned in February. A Merrill spokeswoman did not comment on any effort to bring Birosak back, but said, "Merrill is definitely not de-emphasizing the syndicated finance group."