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Art Kenny, a former v.p. in global sales and trading at Salomon Smith Barney, has been scooped up by The Seaport Group. Due to Kenny's experience with the Latin American sector, he has been brought on to be a sourcer for the firm's loan group and will help Seaport expand its Latin American presence in addition to working with the existing U.S. clients.

Veritas DGC has closed on a $250 million credit after tweaking the deal to appease investors. During the seismic data provider's three-month stint in syndication, the facility faced a difficult lending environment for companies in the energy sector, explained Matt Fitzgerald, Veritas' cfo. "Pricing was a bit higher than we initially thought it would be," he said. Tranches reached rates as high as LIBOR plus 71/2% after launching in the LIBOR plus 21/4-31/ 2% range (LMW, 11/4). He noted that the final pricing still reduced the Houston-based company's borrowing cost compared to its notes priced at 93/4%, which are scheduled to be redeemed today.

Adelphia Communications' bank debt regained ground last week after Bank of America released an extensive research report on the company touting its Century Cable Group as the "steal of the century." Levels for Century Cable's term loans rallied from the mid 60s, where pieces of the paper traded two weeks ago, into the 70-73 range. The report puts in writing what a lot of people have been saying about Adelphia for some time, said market players.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank shifted $65 million from AmeriPath's "B" piece to an upsized $275 million bond deal last week. Pricing was also boosted with the $225 million institutional loan increasing from LIBOR plus 33/4-41/ 2% with an original issue discount of 99. The revolver was shaved down $10 million to $65 million and maintains a spread of 31/2% over LIBOR. The now $290 million facility backs plans by Amy Acquisition Corp.-- a Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe company-- to acquire the cancer diagnostics provider. An AmeriPath spokeswoman, a Welsh Carson official and a Deutsche Bank banker did not return calls. A CSFB official declined to comment.

Aspen Marketing Group has consolidated its credit facilities in conjunction with tapping its lead bank, BNP Paribas, for an additional $5.5 million revolver. The company had five separate credit facilities in the form of term loans totaling approximately $100 million, which were issued on a one-off basis as the company needed them, explained Donald Danner, Aspen Marketing's cfo. Rolling the credits into one deal is easier from an administrative perspective, noted Danner.

The $470 million refinancing credit for KinderCare Learning Centers was yanked from the market last week as the company and equity sponsor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. balked at proposed changes to the deal. "The reason we backed off on the credit facility was that the terms were not acceptable to the company," said Dan Jackson, cfo. He declined to discuss particulars, but KKR's reluctance to offer more than stock as security is believed to be the major sticking point. The company will instead go for a commercial mortgage backed securities deal. Officials at J.P. Morgan and Citibank, the leads on the bank deal, declined to comment. KKR officials declined to comment on the situation.

Pathology services-provider AmeriPath's high bad debt expense is partly a result of its position as a secondary recipient of billing information, a factor in Moody's Investors Service's rating of the company's $365 million credit at B1. Unlike other laboratory companies, much of AmeriPath's revenue stems from an inpatient hospital setting, causing it to depend on the hospitals for billing data. Several other labs are able to send their bills directly to patients, which helps expedite and ensure payment at a reliable rate, explained Russell Pomerantz, v.p. and senior analyst at Moody's. The bank facility backs plans by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to acquire the cancer diagnostics provider for about $845 million.

Bresnan Communications' $400 million credit backing the acquisition of subscribers from Comcast is on its way home as the cable sector finally seems to be coming back into favor with lenders as long as the price is right. The company weathered close to a year-long effort to finalize the entire transaction and ended up increasing its spread over LIBOR by 50 basis points and offering a steeper original issue discount. Margot Bright, v.p. of finance for Bresnan, said things are looking better for the sector. "The cable sector is looking quite good," she said, citing stronger free cash flow year-end reports from other companies in the industry. "The Charter [Communications] overhang is a little bit over," she said, adding that the Adelphia [Communications] shocks are also subsiding.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Scotia Capital are launching syndication of a $100 million add-on piece to Weight Watchers International's (WWI) existing credit for the company's acquisition of nine of WW Group's 15 franchises in the U.S. and Mexico. WW Group is the largest acquirer of WWI franchises. It operates and owns franchises that conduct Weight Watchers meetings in several U.S. states and parts of Mexico. Pricing on the six-year institutional loan is LIBOR plus 21/2% and the bank meeting is set for today.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Allegiance Telecom's $470 million credit to CC from CCC as the rating agency anticipates that the company will have trouble reducing its debt from $1.275 billion to $660 million by April 30 as required by the company's recent amendment to its credit facility. Fitch notes that the CC rating implies there will be some type of default based on the training that in this current market it would be difficult to obtain the outside funding needed to meet the reduction obligation. The company has $285 million in cash on its balance sheet and is not generating cash from its operations.

National Equipment Services' bank debt was active two weeks ago with a $20 million piece changing hands in the 64 context and another $14-15 million block moving in the low 60s. A few million was believed to have changed hands previously in the 67 1/2 context. The identities of the parties involved in the trades could not determined. The bank debt was said to be resting quietly in the low 60s last week with no trading. The seller is probably done with his spree, commented one dealer.

Bank debt levels for Fleming Companies tumbled last week after the company drew down a portion of its $475 million revolver, postponed a meeting with banks and inched closer to an important deadline. The company's "B" loan traded in the 94-95 context on Wednesday, but by Thursday afternoon the market had sunk to the 85-87 range and some trades reportedly took place at those levels. Some dealers noted that a trade in the 85 context was a bit aggressive and subsequently the market for the "B" loan stood in the 85-90 context. The bank meeting was postponed from last Tuesday to last Friday, after Loan Market Week went to press. Repeated calls to Fleming's financial officials, including Mark Shapiro, senior v.p. of finance and operations control, and a spokesperson were not returned by press time.