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This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.

Investors oversubscribed to the $80 million add-on incremental "B" term loan for Language Line, which was increased from its originally proposed size of $75 million. Pricing was reverse flexed from LIBOR plus 4% to LIBOR plus 33/4%, a banker explained. The "B" loan, led by TD Securities, FleetBoston Financial and Wachovia Securities, will provide a dividend to the company's sponsor, Providence Equity Partners, he noted. The five-and-a-half-year loan will tack on to Language Line's existing $200 million credit put in place in October 2001. This credit has amortized down to $170 million. The banker said the add-on loan is being executed now because the performance of Language Line, a provider of over-the-phone translation services, has been very strong and it has de-levered back down to its 2001 levels. "It just made sense to recapitalize," he added.

Western Wireless bank debt ticked up to the 99 to par range after the company announced it will raise $600 million in senior unsecured debt. The company's bank debt has been climbing out of the 70s since the beginning of the year. The debt jumped about four points after a bank call two weeks ago to the 97-98 range with rumors of a bond offering (LMW, 7/7).

The six-year, $135 million "B" loan for Packaged Ice was more than five times oversubscribed last week, with about $700 million in tickets in for the tranche, a banker said. Lead banks CIBC World Markets, Credit Suisse First Boston and Bear Stearns were set to close the books on the loan by last Thursday, just two days after syndication launched. The banker said it was not determined if the institutional piece would be increased or if a reverse price flex would occur. The "B" piece was shopped at LIBOR plus 31/2%. The credit backs Packaged Ice's $450 million acquisition by Trimaran Capital Partners and Bear Stearns Merchant Banking.

The pace of new investment in the distressed debt market by pension funds and endowments has slowed considerably in the last six months, according to iisearches and Loan Market Week. Rising prices are cited as the main culprit, but several distressed managers insist opportunities remain. "High returns are synonymous with rising prices, and rising prices don't give you great [new] opportunities," explained Howard Marks, principal of Oak Tree Capital Management.

The new $740 million debt package backing the leveraged buyout of TransDigm will significantly increase the company's leverage, but Moody's Investors Service expects stable and eventually improved revenues to support the company's ratings. The $440 million of bank debt and $300 million senior subordinated notes supporting Warburg Pincus' and TransDigm managements' acquisition of the company from Odyssey Investment Partners have been assigned B1 and B3 ratings, respectively. In addition to the debt financing, Warburg Pincus will provide a $532 million equity investment.

Trimble Navigation has scored a new $175 million secured credit facility consisting of a three-year, $125 million revolver and a four-year, $50 million term loan. Scotia Capital leads the credit. The facility was oversubscribed, which enabled the GPS device maker to increase the facility from $150 million to $175 million and close syndication early, said John Huey, Trimble's treasurer. He attributed the oversubscription both to Trimble's good performance over the last year--the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has steadily de-levered and reduced debt to two times EBITDA--and to pent-up market demand for a company with Trimble's size and performance. "There are not many deals being done in the market, so there is all this money sitting there and it gets thrown at you," Huey said. "We literally kept ducking the stuff," he added.

Polyester product manufacturer and marketer Wellman completed a $275 million credit that is unsecured until March 2004, at which time the company will have to provide security for the deal unless it can get its ratings back up to investment-grade. The company's ratings are presently at BB+/Ba2, said Keith Phillips, cfo of Wellman. The company hopes that with the consummation of an equity investment by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, it will be able to push itself above the investment-grade edge again, Phillips explained.

Goldman Sachs allocated the $750 million second priority term loan for Calpine Corp. late last week in conjunction with its $3.3 billion debt package. The entire bond and bank deal was increased from an initially planned $1.8 billion after receiving red hot reception in the debt markets. A banker familiar with the loan said over 100 investors came into the term loan from all corners of the market. The four-year loan and $500 million of four-year floating-rate notes were both priced at LIBOR plus 53/4%. Calpine also priced $1.15 billion of 81/2% fixed-rate senior secured notes due 2010 and $900 million of 83/4% senior secured notes due 2013.

Conseco's bank debt has been trading above the 96 range as the company winds up its bankruptcy proceedings. One trader explained that there is increased interest in the name as investors bet on the chance that the preferred convertible equity portion of the bank debt holders' recovery will be refinanced before holders have the option to convert to common stock. The company has about $1.5 billion of claims under its pre-petition credit facility. Bank of America is the administration agent on the deal.

Fleming Companies term loan "B" soared to the 94-96 range from the 88 level after the company announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its wholesale grocery business to C&S Wholesale Grocers for an estimated purchase price of $400 million. But investors are holding onto the debt and some believe that the company could be headed toward a liquidation type of reorganization. "I don't think that Fleming is going to exist at the end of the day," noted one dealer. While the company continues to support the operations of its other business segment, its Core-Mark convenience business, Fleming has acknowledged that it has received "expressions of interest" from potential financial and strategic buyers for that business.

Global Imaging Systems, a provider of office technology solutions to middle-market businesses, recently completed a debt overhaul that included a $230 million credit facility and a $57.5 million convertible senior subordinated note issuance. The company directed a portion of the proceeds from the credit facility to redeem $100 million of 103/4% high-yield notes. Altogether the transactions allowed Global Imaging to take advantage of the favorable interest rate environment to replace high-priced debt, extend maturities and reduce debt, said Ray Schilling, senior v.p. and cfo. "Debt is [now] less a piece of the balance sheet," he noted.