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Kelley Millet, senior managing director and head of investment-grade capital markets and syndicate at Bear Stearns, has added trading and research to his investment-grade managerial responsibilities, according to senior firm officials. Millet declined comment. Harry Rosenberg, the former research and trading head who left the firm last week, also oversaw high-yield trading and research. It could not be determined who, if anyone, has replaced him in that capacity.

Bank of America's $600 million add-on term loan "B" for Hughes Electronic has blown out, with more than $1 billion of commitments in on the deal since it launched two weeks ago. A banker familiar with the syndication said the nine-month commitment is to provide some working capital until the EchoStar Communications acquisition goes through. Drawdowns under this facility and a recently completed $1.25 billion loan will refinance debt at Hughes' Latin American subsidiaries and fund operations during 2002. Priced at LIBOR plus 3%, the commitment date closed last Thurday. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse First Boston provided a $5.5 billion bridge loan in November to EchoStar to buy Hughes from General Motors (LMW, 11/5).

Goldman Sachs and UBS Warburg today will dispense allocations on the $200 million "B" term loan for Rotech Healthcare, with investors expecting slim pickings from the much sought after deal which blew out just days after launch. A banker said buyside accounts snapped up paper for the Integrated Health Services subsidiary, but overdemand will limit the amount allocated to each fund. Rotech, which markets respiratory products and durable medical equipment, is being spun out of bankrupt IHS, which is currently reorganizing.

Fallen-angel Calpine is returning to the bank market in late March with its reworked and now secured $1.6 billion bank deal. The loan facilities, which comprise a $600 million institutional tranche and a $1 billion revolver, will be syndicated in late March, said a banker. Credit Suisse First Boston, Salomon Smith Barney and Deutsche Bank are the lead arrangers on the "B" tranche, while the lead arrangers on the revolver are Bank of Nova Scotia, Bayerische Landesbank, Bank of America, CSFB and TD Securities. Katherine Potter, Calpine Spokeswoman did not return calls.

Computer Associates has traded in the 95 range down from 98 1/2 earlier this year with $5-10 million changing hands last week following reports of a convertible notes offering. Rumors suggest the name may have dipped lower as it passed from dealers to institutions, according to traders. Market players have split views on the strength of the name. One dealer suggested that the convertible issue is seen as an "act of desperation" in the eyes of investors, who are concerned with the company's overall health. Another trader defended the name believing it was a sound investment. Last Thursday, CA announced it would issue $600 million in convertible senior notes due 2007.

CIBC Capital Markets and Antares Capital have joined Deutsche Bank's $100 million deal for Aquila Power Services, a portfolio company of private-equity firmFirst Reserve. The deal, which comprises a five-year, $25 million revolver and a $75 million five-and-a-half year term loan, partially backs the acquisition of Welding Services, said a source familiar with the deal. The tranches carry an out-of-the-box spread of LIBOR plus 4%.

Deutsche Bank's $700 million credit for Williams Scotsman is backed by collateral that will provide substantial recovery for bank debt holders in a default scenario, according to Moody's Investors Service, which has placed a B1 rating on the credit. The deal is currently in the market and GMAC Bank and Congress Financial have signed on as co-documentation agents committing $50 million each, according to an official close to the syndication. The credit comprises a $500 million, five-year revolver and a $200 million term loan "B" both priced at LIBOR plus 3%.

A yo-yo round of pricing changes on the $350 million Express Scripts term loan "B" had investors running to then from the deal before pricing finally settled at LIBOR plus 2% last week. A rousing initial response had agentsCredit Suisse First Boston and Citibank looking to cut pricing for the company from LIBOR plus 21/ 4% down to 13/ 4%. But they went too low and investors began to walk. "Obviously at LIBOR plus 21/ 4% it was very well oversubscribed and in our discussions with Citi and CSFB we determined that the market might have enough appetite at LIBOR plus 13/ 4%," noted Darryl Weinrich, v.p. and treasurer of Express Scripts. "But, we could not get enough in at this price so went back to 2%."

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is pushing for companies to count their trust preferred securities as debt on balance sheets, a move that could significantly shift the debt ratios of some companies and lead to potential covenant defaults. FASB is taking aim at the mezzanine section of the balance sheet as part of its equities and liabilities project, and trust preferreds typically reside there.

Nick Waltner, managing director and head of equity financial products at Bank of America in Tokyo, has quit and plans to set up a hedge fund in the U.S. "It's time to move on," noted Waltner, after working in Japan for nine years. He will head back to Seattle to start up a quantitative relative value strategy fund, dubbed Kulshan Asset Management, by next fall. Kulshan is the native American name for Mount Baker, a well-known mountain outside of Seattle. "We'll start small and first establish a track record," he noted.

Goldman Sachs plans to hire two convertible bond arbitrage traders to expand its proprietary trading desk to London. At the moment the firm only has proprietary traders in New York, according to an official familiar with the move. He added Goldman expects to have the convertible bond prop desk up and running by year-end.