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More than $20 million of Global Crossing's bank debt changed hands last week in the 20-23 range as credit holders weighed the value of new bids for the bankrupt telecom. A $10 million piece traded at 22 1/2 early in the week, but traders said $5 million pieces had been moving all week. Market players debate takeover bids for the name and the value of the company's assets in the case of liquidation. Two weeks ago FleetBoston Financial filed a proposal stating that liquidation was its preference. That's the general sense among lenders, who stand to do better in liquidation than any other creditors.

The $17 billion in loans for AT&T Comcast being shopped by J.P. Morgan and Citibank could test the depth of the market for huge deals for investment-grade borrowers. J.P. Morgan and Citi have just started shopping the deal to potential managing agents and five banks have already committed $10 billion. The company's strong relationships should carry the deal, bankers said. But other bankers noted they are watching with interest to see how the deal does in the wake of a somewhat difficult syndication for Weyerhaeuser Co.'s $4 billion commercial paper backstop.

Marc Seidner is Director of Domestic Taxable Fixed Income at Standish Mellon. In this capacity he oversee the management of about $24 billion of Core High-Grade and Core Plus portfolios.

Société Générale has landed the lead role on bank deals for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Hornets, the first deals being led by SG since the departure of Sal Galatioto and his sports advisory group to Lehman Brothers last year. Randy Campbell replaced Galatioto last year from Morgan Stanley to re-launch the sports advisory group.

Standard & Poor's has recently completed a reorganiztion of its structured products division in New York, creating three new groups, according to BW sister publication Derivatives Week. The new groups are fixed income, equity and an operating vehicle group, according to Richard Gugliada, head of the global CDO group in New York. The three new groups report to Gugliada.

Stephen Smithruns the $1.8 billion global bond fund at Wilmington, Del.-based Brandywine Asset Management. While the fund is global in scope, Smith says it can invest in corporate credits, mortgage- and asset-backed bonds and government bonds with no rating or country specific allocation issues. An 11-year veteran of Brandywine, Smith has been in the portfolio management business since 1967.

Credit Lyonnais, U.S. Bank and Citibank have joined on the refinancing for Arch Coal and Arch Western Resources at the co-documentation level. J.P. Morgan and PNC Bank are leading the deal and a banker familiar with the syndication said J.P. Morgan has committed $70 million and PNC bank $90 million. Documentation agents have committed $60 million each to the deal. An additional commitment has been received from Bank of New York. The $525 million "B" has already gained more than $100 million after launching on March 5, with Van Kampen Merritt and Institutional Debt Management among the buyers.

UBS Warburg has hired Jeff Keith, a senior high-yield salesman. Keith will report to Steve Chronert, head of high-yield sales based in New York. Keith was released in December from Merrill Lynch, which has made severe cutbacks to its high-yield effort in recent months (BW, 12/16).

Abbey National Treasury Services (ANTS), part of one of Europe's largest banking groups and the U.K.'s sixth largest, is building a leveraged loan operation in the U.S. to be a buyer of credits in both the primary and secondary markets and possibly start up a collateralized debt obligation. The bank is looking to cash in on a negative credit cycle that is producing fairly conservative credits with attractive spreads. Hans Scholz senior v.p. acquisition finance, for ANTS based in Stamford, Conn., said John Sykes, a buyside pro, has been hired from PNC Business Credit. Clifford Wells has come aboard as a senior credit officer from Bank Austria Kreditanstalt this week. The plan is in the fall to hire a portfolio manager to round the team out.

The bondholder committee of financially distressed Dutch cable operator United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) has tapped Greenhill & Co. as a financial advisor in its negotiations with the company. A member of the committee says Greenhill has been searching for a strategic investor to pay down a E1 billion exchangeable loan held by UPC parent UnitedGlobalCom (UGC). The committee member has expressed concern that UGC intends to use the loan to gain a disproportionate equity stake in the restructured company (BW, 2/11). He says several potential investors have expressed interest in paying down the loan. However, he would not name the investors. Michael Kramer, a partner in Greenhill's New York office working with the committee, did not return calls.

Russell Hurst, formerly head of collateralized debt obligation research at Wachovia Securities, has jumped ship and will assume the same function at Banc One Capital Markets, says Alessandro Pagani, asset backed-securities analyst with Banc One. Hurst will start next Monday. He will report to Alex Roever, managing director and head of structured debt research, who did not return calls.