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Triton PCS has added a $125 million term loan to an existing $355 million credit in an effort to achieve better short-term liquidity. "It makes good sense to have that liquidity," said Daniel Hopkins, senior v.p. of finance and treasurer for Triton. The new deal also eases the company's amortization schedule for the next five years.

J.P. Morgan Securities has hired Greg Boester as an adjustable rate mortgage securities (ARMS) trader. He fills a newly created slot in the firm's residential mortgage-backed securities trading operation. He will trade the non-agency, or whole loan, ARMS sector, says division chief Kevin Finnerty. Boester joins from Lehman Brothers. He is the second ARMS trader hired away from Lehman by JPM in the last several weeks, joining former colleague John Horner (BW, 3/3), who trades the 15-year and agency ARMS sectors. Boester is a v.p. and will jointly report to pass-through trading chief Bill King and ARMS trading boss Tom Wiles.

Katonah Capital Management is wrapping up a roughly $425 million collateralized loan obligation after Credit Suisse First Boston issued notes to support the structure two weeks ago. Originally the deal reportedly started ramping up back in May (LMW 5/28). The reason for the long ramp up period could not be determined by press time. Joyce DeLucca, portfolio manager, did not return calls by press time. The deal is comprised of leveraged loan assets and reportedly a small percentage of bonds. CSFB priced the notes at LIBOR plus 44 basis points for the Standard & Poor's rated triple-A tranche and LIBOR plus 240 basis points for the triple-B tranche, according to a banker close to the deal.

CIBC World Markets this week is launching syndication of a $500 million credit for Isle Of Capri Casinos into a market warming to the gaming sector after it sustained the worst that could be thrown at it. "There is positive demand for gaming paper right now, with the overall economy improving and the regional (non-Vegas) companies not adversely affected by Sept. 11," stated Rex Yeisley, senior v.p. and cfo of Isle of Capri. Boyd Gaming is also set to refinance this summer after a $200 million bond offering last week and other bank deals for gaming companies are said to be in the works.

An American Institute of Certified Public Accountants project that changes the way banks account for loans picked up via acquisitions has finally been completed, but it has some lawyers and accountants fearing the industry will be blindsided because most have forgotten about the long-running effort. Corporate Financing Week, and LMW sister publication, reports that the project has been on the table since 1998 and with ongoing consolidation in the industry it could have big impact, they said. The change would require banks to disclose expected cash flows from loans, meaning those without the allowances for possible bad loans that won't get paid back-potentially creating a less flattering picture to project to directors and shareholders before an acquisition.

The low price of an outstanding issue by Panavision explains the unusual structure of a proposed new $250 million bond deal by the company, according to an official familiar with the deal. The proposed issue would give bondholders a second lien on collateral that is part of the deal--a higher degree of security than is typical in media sector issues, one media analyst says. However, higher security was needed because a deal comparable in structure to the outstanding issue would require a coupon of well over 20%, since that is where the outstanding issue was trading last week. Several high-yield desks did not have trading levels for the camera maker's single outstanding high-yield issue, its 9.625% senior discount notes of '06 (Caa1/B-), but one sell-side desk quoted the bonds at 40 last Tuesday. High-yield officials offer several explanations for the low price, including the company's high leverage (5.5-6 times debt-to-cash flow), the bonds' poor position in the capital structure given the amount of bank debt outstanding, and concerns that competition from digital technology will reduce cash flow.

Marconi is poised to proceed with a debt-for-equity swap in a move to restructure its balance sheet, London-based telecom analysts say. The move would involve bondholders eventually swapping their debt for shares. The increased likelihood of the swap comes after Moody's Investors Service downgraded Marconi's debt from B2 to Ca last week. "We've been very negative on this situation since last year and it is clear some sort of restructuring will take place, most likely a debt-for-equity swap," says Aizaz Shaikh, a telecom analyst at BNP Paribas.

Nomura Securities International in London has hired Christian Marx, formerly head of collateralized debt obligation structuring for Europe at Morgan Stanley in London, to head its CDO group, a newly created position. Tariq Rafique, managing director and head of the securitization and asset finance group and to whom Marx will report, says Marx's hire adds some "additional horse power" to Nomura's CDO capability. "Our goal is to be a significant player," he says. Currently, Nomura has five people dedicated to its CDO business, and that number will increase as the business grows, adds Rafique.

UBS Warburg andCredit Suisse First Boston will launch a bank meeting on April 2 for Harvest/ AMI Holdings, a newly formed company from New York-based leveraged buyout shop Harvest Partners for the acquisition of Associated Materials. The $165 million credit will be split between a $40 million five-year revolver and a $125 million seven-year "B" term loan. Spreads and a commitment fee have not been decided yet, said a banker.

Just over $14 billion in investment grade supply came to market this week bringing the year-to-date total to $162 billion or $54 billion per month. The highlights of the week were the two tranche deal for CIT and the $7.3 billion multi-tranche, multi-currency deal for Morgan Stanley, which has the distinction of being the largest deal ever by a securities firm. The 30-year tranche has remained well-supported given the scarcity of paper in the long end in the finance sector. Look for additional issuance from the finance sector given the current uncertainty in the short-term markets and the prospect for higher rates later in the year. With 1Q02 issuance already exceeding expectations and remaining on pace with 1Q01, it is worthwhile to put this trend into the context of net issuance by looking at the calendar of redemptions for the year. Using maturities of securities that qualified for inclusion in aggregate corporate indexes (which removes the impact of money market instruments), redemptions maintain a solid monthly pace in the range of $10-$15 billion throughout the year with the sole exception of November. This pace slightly exceeds that of 2001.

Ask Wally Hofer-Neder if DePfa is going to have to pay up for its inaugural Irish covered bond issue, and her immediate response is a slightly mischievous " we hope not". Her argument on this score is lucid enough. "We're not introducing a new bank," she says. "We are just launching a new product. But our brand name is well established in the market and we are offering the same quality of assets. We have also said that we want the Irish product to be superior to the existing German product, so why should we pay up?

The French market for obligations foncières (OFs) remains comfortably the most concentrated covered bond market in Europe, with two banks, Dexia Municipal Agency (DexMA) and Crédit Foncier de France (CFF) accounting for the lion's share of issuance. But last October the market became a little less concentrated when CIF Euromortgage launched its debut issue, a Eu1bn seven year deal via BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, priced at about 4bp over CFF to incorporate a premium for the new issuer.