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Barclays Capital has hired two top level credit derivatives professionals in a bid to become a major player in the European CDO and credit-default swap markets, according to Eileen Murphy, global head of agency CDOs at Barclays Capital in New York. The firm hired Paul Varotsis, executive director in structured credit trading at Lehman Brothers in London and the European chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association's credit derivatives market practice committee, in the new position of European head of agency CDOs, and Olivier Staub, managing director and flow credit derivatives trader at Bear Stearns in London, as a director in a similar position. Varotsis and Staub declined comment.

Calpine Corp.'s bank debt has climbed about 10 points out of its hole as investors brush off fears of a near-term liquidity crunch and an early 2003 bankruptcy filing. Bolstering interest in the paper is buzz that the company is talking to its bank group to reduce the capacity under its revolver. Traders said that small pieces of the company's mammoth

The recent rush of issuance continued apace this week with $11.5 billion of investment-grade and almost $2 billion of high-yield issuance coming to market. The breakdown of issuers by rating category substantially skewed by the jumbo $4 billion two-tranche deal launched by GE Capital Corp., which is the largest corporate issue since the finance company tapped the market with a mega $6 billion deal in May of this year. The week also saw a large number of sizeable sovereign and supra deals which is causing both the average deal size and the average rating of issued deals to rise slightly. Nevertheless, risk appetite remains evident and the high-yield market is still providing a healthy pace of financing even though both high-yield and investment-grade spreads have weakened this week, partially to accommodate the ongoing heavy level of supply.

Credit Suisse Asset Management has folded the $2.5 billion in fixed-income assets from its Brundage, Story and Rose subsidiary into its own fixed-income group. The move is designed to cut costs and use its resources more effectively, according to senior fixed-income officials with knowledge of the situation.

Credit Suisse First Boston is shopping two credits for J.L. French Automotive Castings that the car parts maker needs by the end of the year to steer itself away from bankruptcy court. CSFB is in the market with an $85 million "C" loan and a $100 million second lien term loan the company will use to meet debt payments and pay down debt. "The big issue is amortization," said a banker. J.L. French missed a bond interest payment last week and has until year-end to cure the default. "They could meet the interest payment, but the company also has a $13 million bank debt amortization on Dec. 31, they might not have the money to make," he added. J.L. French is a Hidden Creek Industries portfolio company that makes car parts, such as oil pans and transmission cases. Repeated calls to the private equity shop and Mark Burgess, J.L. French's cfo, were not returned.

Standard & Poor's has hired John Iten as director in its insurance rating group. The position is a newly created one. He joins from Deutsche Asset Management (formerly called Zurich Scudder Investments). Iten reports to Robert Partridge, managing director and head of S&P's insurance group. Iten says at Scudder he was senior insurance strategist in charge of the core fixed-income portfolio strategy for third-party insurance accounts. He reported to Ray Helfer, managing director in charge of the insurance group. Calls to Helfer seeking comment on whether Iten's slot has been filled were not returned by press time last Thursday.

R.H. Donnelley's new credit backing the acquisition of Sprint's publishing assets broke into the secondary market last Wednesday, trading above par. Pieces of the oversubscribed "B" paper changed hands in the 100 1/4 to 100 1/2 context as original lenders looked to top off their allocations. The low point for the paper was a trade in the 99 7/8 range, one trader noted. Any Donnelley trades will not settle until January 2003, when the transaction is completed. Other recent directory deals have been trading in the same context. Dealers quoted the market for Dex Media East at 100 1/8 to 100 3/8 and Bell Actimedia's new term loan "B" was still holding its own in the par context as well.

Vanguard Health Systems works with more financially troubled hospitals than most of Moody's Investors Service's other rated health facility operators, said Russell Pomerantz, senior analyst. Vanguard's margins are below 10%, whereas most of its peers clear margins above 15%, he said, explaining the added risks of working with initially less profitable hospitals. This is a cause for concern, reflected in the Ba3 rating of the company's new $150 million "B" term loan add-on piece. "That's where the money's at," responded Trip Pilgrim, v.p. of investor relations for Vanguard, commenting on the added risk of working with these troubled hospitals.

Goldman Sachs is in the market with a $250 million "B" loan for San Jose, Calif.-based Sanmina-SCI Corp., an electronics contract manufacturer, after deciding to skip the gimpy pro rata market. The loan launched last Thursday with a bank meeting in New York, with pricing most likely to be between LIBOR plus 4-41/ 4%, said a banker familiar with the credit.

HCA is looking for up to $1 billion in new debt financing and has yet to pick a lead bank. The planned financing, which will be a mix of bond and bank debt, will back the hospital operator's $1.125 billion acquisition of Health Midwest, and HCA expects to bring the bank deal to market by the first quarter of next year, said Mark Kimbrough, v.p. of investor relations. Kimbrough explained that the company is still in the process of completing the transaction after the definitive agreement was signed last month. "The acquisition will be financed through cash and debt," he explained. He would not state any possible banks being considered for the deal or currently involved with the company because HCA wanted to remain open to the lending market, Kimbrough added. Presently, J.P. Morgan leads a $2.5 billion dollar line, while TD Securities leads a $500 million credit for HCA.

While the market cooled slightly in line with equities, traders say it remains well bid due to the large inflows in recent weeks. Wireless was strong overall and recent new issues were especially well bid. Here is selected action.

Investors piled in on Bank of America's $50 million add-on for Seattle-based American Seafoods Group, with more than $100 million of commitments already gained, said Bernt Bodal, ceo of American Seafoods. "We originally thought of going to the high-yield market, but pricing is much better [in the bank market], and our syndicate has been extremely supportive and very positive about the company," he added. The $50 million piece is an add-on to the company's $225 million "B" loan, put in place last March during a $390 million recapitalization. The expanded line is priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 4%, he said. Officials at B of A did not return calls regarding this deal.