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WorldCom met with its seven biggest lenders last Thursday as market players speculate that a $750 million term loan could be a part of the company's new financing plan. WorldCom, does not need the cash from a term loan, but rather the backstop liquidity, a trader said. The company will look to avoid the term loan because it comes at a higher price, a dealer explained. The bank group will probably balk at a revolver because if the company decides to draw the line they will have the same exposure to the company as a fully funded term loan without a higher price to compensate for the risk, he noted.

CIBC World Markets is using the supply/demand imbalance in the market to its advantage by shopping two deals together --Boyd Gaming, an attractive refinance credit, and the less attractive, Borgata Casino deal. "We'll give you special consideration if you take both," a buysider said, describing the pitch by the firm to package the Borgata deal with the Boyd deal. The strategy to help finance the Borgata credit, an Atlantic City-based construction finance deal, is designed to assuage concerns about project finance loans. "Borgata's a much riskier credit and even if the project comes in on budget, it doesn't mean it will come in on time," said a portfolio manager who still hasn't decided whether or not Boyd's worth the Borgata risk. The buysider said commitments are due at the end of the month, following launch of both institutional pieces two weeks ago. Officials at CIBC declined to comment.

Bill Demchak, who resigned last month from his position of global head of structured finance and credit portfolio, says he has not burned his bridges with J.P. Morgan Securities and associates say he could, if he decided to, come back to the firm after the summer. Reached at his home in Manhattan, the high-profile banker says he is on a sabbatical for an undetermined length of time. Chris Lemko, a spokeswoman with the firm, says management at the bank is encouraging Demchak to come back. Demchak says he wanted to take the summer off as he approached his 40th birthday with the intent of spending more time with his family. Someone at the bank, familiar with his move, says that Demchak, who has two kids, a boat and a house in the Hamptons, was offered a sabbatical as a way to accommodate his request to take the summer off. "He could be back four or five months from now," says this source. Demchak declined to indicate if he had such plans when the summer is over.

J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse First Boston's credit for TriMas, backing the spinoff from Metaldyne is offering a $300 million "B" piece, and could take out Metaldyne debt at 101. That twist is playing well with investors who bought in the mid-80s when Metaldyne was struggling, noted one buysider. Heartland Industrial Partners bought Metaldyne in November 2000 and now wants to separate the TriMas business, as it has little strategic fit within Metaldyne, said a banker. Separating the two will enable both to grow, he added.

The high grade calendar picked up on the week, with $11.6 billion in new deals priced. Several interest rate sensitive companies hit the market as fears that increasing Treasury supply and a reviving economy would raise borrowing costs later in the year. Notable names to come to market in that sector include Household Finance ($2.5 billion), CountryWide Home ($1 billion), AIG Sunamerica ($1.2 billion) and Wells Fargo ($500 million). The other notable deal in the market was Petronas, which priced the largest Asian global ever at $2.75 billion (including 1 euro and 2 dollar tranches). Petronas benefited from attractive spreads relative to U.S. oil companies as well as Malaysia's positive sovereign outlook.

XO Communications' bank debt has plummeted from the high 60s to the low 50s with a rumor that Forstmann Little & Co. is pulling out of its proposed deal to invest $800 million in the company, along with Telefonos de Mexico, for an 80% share. Traders said that approximately $15 million traded in the 51 range.

Pressure is mounting to cut pricing on a series of "B" loans, leaving market players to question where the point is when investors will say no. One strong candidate for a flex is Silgan Holdings after institutional commitments topped $1 billion for the $300 million "B" loan. CIBC World Markets is also looking to drop pricing on Shoppers Drug Mart to LIBOR plus 2%, while Credit Suisse First Boston's deal for Playtex Products was launched to the market at LIBOR plus 21/ 2%, but could go to 21/ 4%.

Calpine's "B" piece has grabbed the attention of the buyside, who pushed the size of the tranche to $1 billion from $600 million. When terms of the loan were originally floated, investors balked at the risk of lending to the embattled power generator, investors and bankers said. The LIBOR plus 23/ 4% spread was seen as way too low without enough security in place. But after pricing was upped 1% and some added collateral was thrown in, the deal gained traction. It could not be determined if the $1 billion revolver has been downsized in conjunction with the term loan "B" increase.

Citigroup Investments officials will most likely search for analytical expertise as they look to replace a senior portfolio manager and a trader who recently left the firm, according to a senior fixed-income official familiar with the firm's plans. Kathy Karlic, a senior portfolio manager who recently left the firm after 17 years to join GE Asset Management, had previously been Citigroup's research head. More recently, Citigroup lost Joe Mullally, a senior emerging markets trader who joined UBS Principal Finance (BW, 5/13).

Comcast opted for a new $12.825 billion credit facility with a $7 billion bridge loan to fund its acquisition of AT&T Broadband and will seek a public debt offering or asset sale to secure permanent financing at an opportune time. The company had two options to obtain the necessary financing, said Ken Mikalauskas, v.p. of finance at Comcast. It could secure a bridge loan or go to the public markets to raise the funds. "[The bridge loan] gives us the flexibility to access the capital markets at the right time for our permanent financing," explained Mikalauskas. New financing will be approximately the same size, he noted, and could include a sale of Comcast's 25% stake in Time Warner Entertainment.

Despite concerns over casinos in Las Vegas after the downturn in air travel following the terrorist attacks, Goldman Sachs and Bank of Nova Scotia's "B" term loan for Venetian Casino Resort's blew out within hours of launch two weeks ago and was five times oversubscribed as Loan Market Week went to press. "Venetian is a high quality casino property and there are strong advanced booking trends related to the company's conference business," noted Moody's Investors Service analyst Keith Foley. Las Vegas is still a very popular destination for conferences, he added. The $375 million bank debt has received a B2 rating from Moody's, which is one notch higher than the senior implied rating. The $850 million in second mortgage notes accompanying the credit have been rated Caa1.

Credit Suisse First Boston has hired David Jansky as a v.p. in its structured finance collateralized debt obligation group. He reports to Chris Ricciardi, managing director and head of U.S. structured credit products. Jansky, who started two weeks ago, will work on structuring asset-backed securities CDOs as well as investment-grade CDOs. Ricciardi says the position is a newly created one as his group has been expanding.