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Tesoro Petroleum Corp.'s $150 million "B" loan was two times oversubscribed late last week after the $650 million asset-based credit was pitched to investors last Wednesday. The institutional piece is priced at LIBOR plus 31/2% and the $500 million revolver has a spread of 31/4% over LIBOR, according to a trader familiar with the deal. He noted that $300 million of the revolver is expected to be drawn at closing. There is an up-front fee of 25 basis points on the "B" loan and a 100 basis points up-front fee for $35 million commitments to the pro rata. Pro rata tickets for $25 million also receive 75 basis points up-front and $15 million pro rata ticket holders get 50 basis points. The deal also includes a letter of credit sub-limit of $400 million. Bank One and Goldman Sachs are shopping the underwritten deal with FleetBoston Financial and Bank of America also involved, a banker said.

Metal processing company Gibraltar Steel Corp. recently exercised a $50 million expansion feature and received an additional $15 million on its credit in order to help back two recent acquisitions. The company has made 18 strategic acquisitions since 1995 and has used financing besides bank debt to finance the purchases only on three occasions, said Kenneth Houseknecht, director of investor relations.

OMI Corp. recently consolidated, amended and restated two credits into a new $245 million deal in order to take advantage of lower pricing and less restrictive covenants. The international tanker owner and operator felt it was a good time to refinance its previous $310 million credit and $78 million facility because of positive market conditions, said Kathleen Haines, senior v.p., cfo and treasurer.

The bank debt levels for Owens Corning dropped roughly 15 points last week to the 50 level and about $200 million of the paper traded as the market anticipated that a bankruptcy court ruling will cost bank debt holders their claims to certain subsidiary guarantees. The issue at hand is substantive consolidation, which would put all the company's assets into one pot to be shared among the creditors. "The bank debt is supposed to be senior to the bonds. There is a concern that that's not the case," explained one trader. Credit Suisse First Boston is the agent to the company's pre-petition loan. An official from the bank declined to comment.

Rent-A-Center's $400 million "B" loan oversubscribed after lead banks Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan pitched the company's $600 million refinancing package to investors last Tuesday. A banker familiar with the deal would not discuss the specific commitment levels, but he confirmed that the "B" piece is being offered at par in the LIBOR plus 21/2-23/4% range. He added that it looks like pricing on the "B" loan could end up closer to the LIBOR plus 21/2% range, but this was not definite. The $80 million letter of credit facility and $120 million revolver are also being pitched to lenders on a three-to-one basis where they commit $3 to the letter of credit facility for every $1 committed to the five-year revolver.

Bank One won the lead role on K2's new credit facility over the incumbent Bank of America by offering the company the best proposal and taking the time to understand the company's sporting goods and recreational products business, said Dudley Mendenhall, senior v.p. of finance for K2. The new credit comprises a $205 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 21/2% and a $20 million "B" loan with a 4% spread over LIBOR. Both the tranches have a three-year term. A B of A spokeswoman declined to comment.

London-based Henderson Global Investors is seeking to add two members to its collateralized debt obligation team. Dominic Powell, director of fixed interest and credit, says the firm is looking for a leveraged loan analyst to work on collateralized loan obligations and a CDO specialist. Powell said the kind of hire he makes will depend on the caliber of candidates available. Henderson is currently working on a CLO called Aquilae. That deal will be about E300 million and will be underwritten by Goldman Sachs. Last year, Henderson brought one collateralized debt obligation to market--a E150 million deal backed by credit default swaps underwritten by J.P. Morgan.

Wachovia Securities pitched into the market a $145 million deal for fishing tackle company Pure Fishing last Wednesday. Proceeds will back a leveraged buyout of the Spirit Lake, Iowa-based company by Whitney & Co. Terms of the transaction could not be ascertained. The credit includes a six-and-a-half year, $110 million "B" piece priced at LIBOR plus 41/4% and a five-year, $35 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 33/4%. Pure Fishing provides tackle worldwide. Officials at Pure Fishing could not be reached by press time and a Wachovia banker did not return calls. Paul Vigano, a partner at Whitney & Co., also did not return calls.

Standard & Poor's has placed the BB senior secured debt ratings of Wackenhut Corrections Corp. on negative watch following the announcement of plans to repurchase Danish security firm Group 4 Falck's 57% stake in the security services company for $132 million in cash. S&P states concern over the company's plans to restructure its existing credit and issue additional debt in order to finance the transaction. Moody's Investors Service also placed the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company's Ba3 credit facility rating on review for downgrade. The Moody's review reflects Wackenhut's substantial increase in leverage in order to finance the stock repurchase.

Western Wireless Corp.'s "B" paper traded as high as 91 last week with market players citing the company's stronger quarterly numbers and the possibility that the cellular service provider may join the pack of issuers tapping the market for fixed-rate, longer-term financing. There is a lot of liquidity in the high-yield market and deals are getting done, said one trader. The market for Western Wireless has not been this high since last spring.

Wyndham International's bank debt climbed into the 80s from the mid-70s as the market reacted favorably to the generally positive news coming from the company's earnings statement. Wyndham's "B" loan traded in the 80 context, and its increasing-rate loan was said to be trading north of 82. The name has seen some pretty good flow last week, commented one trader. There is also mild speculation in the market that Wyndham may decide to take advantage of the healthy high-yield market to reattempt a bond issue after failing to find favorable terms last summer (LMW, 6/02).

CapitalSource, a commercial finance firm providing senior and mezzanine loans to middle-market companies, is bulking up its staff while planning to do one or two more collateralized loan obligations this year after completing the $450 million CapitalSource Commercial Loan Trust 03 CLO last month. Additionally, the firm has snagged a half dozen GE Capital Corp. employees and a PNC Bank staffer to kick start the firm's Chicago office. Dan Duffy, former managing director in capital markets at GE, began at CapitalSource two weeks ago as head director of the corporate finance group in Chicago. "We've essentially started a general industries team for corporate finance in Chicago," he said. He noted that CapitalSource did not scoop up an entire team of employees from GE. He said it was more of an independent process. He added that the firm is looking for four or five more hires to join the Chicago team. He would not discuss any likely candidates.