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Fitch Ratings is launching a rating system for collateralized debt obligation managers, following a similar initiative launched at the end of last year by Standard & Poor's to better respond to increasing demand by investors for information regarding managers on specific transactions.

Approximately $30 million of Global Crossing's bank debt changed hands last week as levels slid from the low 40's to 23-26, with distressed players stepping up following the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last Monday. The picture brightened somewhat on speculation that $360 million in cash, received in December from the sale of the company'sIPC Trading Systems units to an investment group led by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, is sitting in an escrow account waiting to be distributed to creditors. A spokeswoman from Global Crossing could not confirm the possibility of an escrow account or a debtor-in-possession credit in the mix.

HSBC Securities has hired Shawn Burke, a utility and pipelines analyst at Greenwich Capital Markets, in the new position of senior v.p. and investment-grade utilities and pipelines analyst in New York. Robert Smalley, investment-grade research head at HSBC, says Burke was hired because the recent volatility in the pipeline sector has created investment opportunities. "He's one of the top analysts in the market, so hopefully he can help us develop that business," says Smalley. Burke says he joined HSBC because he wanted to return to the sell-side. Prior to joining Greenwich Capital Markets, he was head of investment-grade research at Barclays Capital.

Lehman Brothers is reshopping an overhauled credit for TSI Telecommunications Services with new pricing and a combined term "A" and "B" loan, after a tough reception by investors. The $100 million senior secured term loan "A" and $200 million term loan "B" will be priced at LIBOR plus 4 1/2 %-- a 1% hike on the original spread. The spread on the $35 million revolver has also been raised to 4 1/2 % said a banker. A $245 million bond offering has been completed, but pricing could not be ascertained, added the banker. Call protection was added in at 102/101 during the first tweaking last month, a rework that also included a price flexing (LMW, 1/21). Lehman bankers did not return repeated calls.

Deutsche Bank's $70 million deal for tabletop sweetener-company Merisant blew out last week only days after launching. The add-on credit for Merisant, whose products include Equal and Canderel, was launched last Tuesday, said an official familiar with the situation. "This is a credit people knew with strong brand names," he said. Pricing is still at LIBOR plus 3 1/4 % for the five-year term loan "B" and had not been flexed prior to press time. The new financing is aimed at paying down higher intereset subordinated debt incurred in the leveraged buyout by Pegasus Capital Advisors in March 2000. The business was purchased by Pegasus from Monsanto, which had decided to concentrate on its pharmaceutical and agricultural products business.

Merrill Lynch has begun to send credit derivative structurers along with asset-backed bankers when pitching deals to potential issuers. The objective is to provide a one-stop-shop for securitization, since these deals frequently include derivatives, according to a Merrill banker in London. The derivatives team will handle smaller deals, while larger deals will be the purview of the securitization group.

Credit analysts are worried that proposed changes by Moody's Investors Service to its ratings methodologies could have a negative impact on the European corporate credit market. Late last month, Moody's announced it may shorten ratings reviews, permit more responsive actions to market news, change ratings without formal review and streamline the process for establishing ratings outlooks--perhaps eliminating them altogether. Calls to Christopher Mahoney, senior managing director and chairman of Moody's credit policy committee and author of the report, were not returned.

Morgan Stanley is growing its global fixed-income strategy team under Amy Falls, who heads the group out of New York. It has added Carlos Nogueira, a principal who previously did quantitative research in emerging markets and high-yield at the firm, to its global fixed income strategy team. Falls says the group is also looking for a candidate with strong writing skills to help her craft a weekly 10-page research piece. The firm may hire at the v.p. level, though it could also employ a less senior candidate to grow into the position. Nogueira says his new role will have a global focus across asset classes. His previous position has been eliminated.

Two par name staples bounced around last week, dropping early and then recovering late in the week. Nextel Communications traded down to 88 from 89 1/4-90 1/2 in a small $2.5 million trade Wednesday. But by Thursday, Nextel began to climb to 88 3/4 early in the day and later $2.5 million traded at 89 1/16. Another $5 million of Nextel traded at 89 1/4 in the late afternoon, said one dealer.

The Houston Texans will be looking for a lead bank for a possible $300 million refinancing in the form of either a bank deal, a private placement or a combination of the two by next year. J.P. Morgan leads the current $225 million bank facility, but the Texans need an extra $75 million to pay the National Football League next January, and according to Scott Schwinger, cfo of the Texans, the debut season would be a good time to extend the maturity on the existing debt. "J.P. Morgan has a strong seat at the table, but we will talk to other folks as well," stated Schwinger.

Patriarch Partners, a New York-based distressed bond investment management boutique, is strengthening its structured finance effort and has hired three collateralized loan obligation analysts for this purpose. All new hires take newly created slots, according to Lynn Tilton, principal.

Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse First Boston's $1.25 billion deal for PanAmSat is on the cusp of filling up and allocations are expected this week after a strong bond offering kick started the syndication. One banker noted half the deal was spoken for before the bond offering, but the pricing of the bonds provided a pointer to the relative value in the bank debt and a subordinated cushion, enabling cautious buysiders to commit. Some investors were waiting to see what would happen with the bonds before committing, said the banker.