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Credit Suisse First Boston and Scotia Capital's $85 million add-on "D" loan for Weight Watchers International (WWI) filled up quickly last week as investors oversubscribed the loan before the March 17 bank meeting. A banker familiar with the situation said "it was a joke" how quickly the deal went, declining to specify the level of oversubscription. He would not comment if there were plans to flex down pricing on the six-year loan from its present LIBOR plus 21/2% level.

Approximately $10-20 million of Global Crossing's bank debt was auctioned in the 18-19 context last week. The auction went off at levels consistent with where the bank debt has been trading since the end of last year. "I think that there will be a lot of guys who want to get out prior to the restructuring," one dealer noted.

A $10 million piece of Hayes Lemmerz International's bank debt is believed to have traded in the 75 range last week. Dealers said the market for the auto parts maker slumped as investors look for pressure on the auto sector. Hayes Lemmerz is particularly susceptible because a large portion of the recovery coming to lenders when the company emerges from bankruptcy is said to be comprised of equity. The bank debt had been resting in the low 80s context for the last month.

Levels for HealthSouth Corp.'s bank debt plummeted roughly 30 points after reports indicated the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the company and Richard Scrushy, its chairman and ceo, with overstating its earnings by $1.4 billion in order to meet earnings expectations. Immediately following the news, bank debt levels sank from the 85 context alongside the company's bonds to the 45-50 range. By Friday morning, however, the bank debt was quoted at a 10-point premium to the bonds due to net payments from the letters of credit that market players expect the bank debt to receive. No bank debt trades could be confirmed, but the bonds traded in high volumes from 45 to 49-50 and some expected them to climb up after the purging stopped. A company spokesman said he could not comment.

Neptune's $220 million refinancing credit oversubscribed last week. Lead bank UBS Warburg pitched a seven-year, $190 million "B" loan priced around LIBOR plus 41/4% and a five-year, $30 million revolver priced in the LIBOR plus 31/2% range. The credit refinances the Tallassee, Ala.-based company's $190 million credit that backed Investcorp's buyout of Neptune from Schlumberger in 2001. This deal included a $125 million "B" piece priced at LIBOR plus 31/2%.

J.P. Morgan, Citibank and UBS Warburg threw an eleventh-hour wrinkle into Constellation Brands' $1.6 billion acquisition credit, revamping the security and pricing terms with an inventive twist. A springing lien, to be triggered by rating downgrades, was changed to permanently fall away if the company raises $450 million in equity to take out a bridge piece or if its leverage falls below four times, explained Thomas Roberts, treasurer of Constellation. The lien applies to receivables, inventory and trademarks. Some investors griped about the changes--and a few walked away--but the deal still closed 100% oversubscribed.

Isle of Capri Black Hawk completed an oversubscribed $210 million acquisition facility and Rex Yeisley, senior v.p. and cfo, attributed the credit's success more to the strength of the company than to hot market timing. "I'm not sure the timing's the best in the world. I think it has to do with the strength of the story," he said. Isle of Capri Black Hawk tapped lead bank CIBC World Markets for the facility, which launched last month, to partly back its $84 million acquisition of Colorado Central Station Casino and Colorado Grande Casino from International Game Technology. He said the casino company's performance made the deal "almost a no brainer." The company's leverage ratio should be under four times, post-acquisition.

LIN TV switched the pricing on its new $175 million "B" tranche from a set spread over LIBOR to a grid-based scheme in order to take advantage of reduced leverage figures. Lead banks J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank originally hit the market with LIBOR plus 21/4% pricing. But after the deal oversubscribed the structure was altered to pricing on a leverage-based grid ranging from LIBOR plus 2-21/4%. LIN TV's debt-to-EBITDA multiples of five times sets the current rate at LIBOR plus 2%, said Deborah Jacobson, LIN TV's v.p. of corporate development and treasurer.

Stericycle, a medical waste management company, has amended its credit facility so that $51 million outstanding on its revolver has been reclassified as a part of the company's "A" term loan. By converting revolving debt to term debt and keeping the size of the revolver the same, the company increases availability under the revolver, said Frank ten Brink, Stericycle's executive v.p. and cfo. He explained that Stericycle had increased the usage of its revolver because of acquisitions, most recently, Scherer Healthcare for $41.5 million in cash in January.

Gaylord Entertainment's $225 million credit was fully committed and scheduled for allocation last Friday. A banker familiar with the deal said it includes a three-year, $150 million "B" loan and a $25 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 31/2%, as well as a $50 million mezzanine tranche with a spread of 8% over LIBOR.

Charter Communications bank debt held its ground last week even as Ralph Kelly, the company's treasurer, resigned. Traders said the company's bank debt traded in the 85 1/2-86 1/2 context, where the paper had been moving the week before. The bank debt held its ground because of the benign circumstances of Kelly's departure, noted one buysider, explaining that the official left to pursue other interests.

Eric Coombs, former executive director in the loan products group at Morgan Stanley, left the securities firm for UBS Warburg last week. Officials familiar with the situation said that Coombs would begin working at UBS next month as a senior loan director in the bank's loan syndications group. At Morgan Stanley, Coombs reported to Michael Hart, managing director. He will now report to David Juge, head of loan syndications at UBS. This is the second addition to UBS' loan group in as many weeks. Kevin Latimer left Deutsche Bank's loan sales group two weeks ago also to join the Swiss bank (LMW, 3/17).