Search results for

Briggs & Stratton is set to close a $300 million revolving credit facility at the end of the month, adjusting pricing to current market standards in an effort to maintain its relationship with its lead lender. Due to its longstanding relationship with lead lender, Bank of America, the company knew pricing was a concern. "[Pricing] had been a topic of discussion for some time, but the [refinancing] was done on the company's incentive," said Jim Brenn, cfo of Briggs & Stratton. The existing deal was set to expire in April 2002. He says the existing deal was too small for the manufacturer of engines for outdoor equipment. "We wanted to guarantee liquidity," he said. "[The existing $250 million deal] felt snug in year four. It served us well for the first two years." Last year the company took out a $140 million, 364-day revolver to carry it through, but Brenn said that has run out as well. The new financing will be a three-year revolver, instead of the prior five-year maturity.

Amroc Investments, the distressed debt broker that was set to close last month, is still operating in a market confused about whether the firm ever ceased operations. Around Labor Day, Amroc Founder Marc Lasry said he had made the "bittersweet and gut-wrenching" decision to close Amroc so he could focus on his other business, Avenue Asset Management. But in the last few weeks, dealers started receiving axe sheets from Amroc and some said they received a message from Amroc saying "customers couldn't let us go."

Ares Management issued liabilities on a new roughly $400 million collateralized loan obligation two weeks ago and is in the process of closing its deal. David Sachs, official at Ares, confirmed issuance of the debt and said a favorable arbitrage in the market triggered the manager's timing on the deal. Sachs said Goldman Sachs is lead underwriter on the deal. Co-leads on the vehicle include J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Salomon Smith Barney. He referred all other questions to Andrew Phelps, associate at the CDO syndications desk of Goldman Sachs, who did not return calls.

Barclays Capital has hired Gerard O'Connor, an analyst and collateralized debt obligation veteran, as a director for its new CDO department, according to Eileen Murphy, head of the firm's global CDO effort. O'Connor, who started last Monday, is in a new slot. He is acting as a structurer for all CDO products. Murphy says she is currently looking to staff four additional positions--two of which will be filled internally and two with external hires. All four spots will have a strong emphasis on equity distribution. O'Connor says he is "thrilled," to continue his long professional relationship with Murphy, as well as the opportunity to start a group from scratch at Barclays.

Anthony Faillace and Steven Luttrell, two veterans of BlackRock Financial Management, will launch Drake Management, a new fixed-income hedge fund based in New York. It will launch with $150 million in assets under management, according to Luttrell. Faillace, who was a non-dollar portfolio manager at BlackRock for three years, will be cio, while Luttrell, who was a senior executive in the alternative investment group, will be coo. Prior to their stint at BlackRock, they both worked at PIMCO. Luttrell says the firm will use a multi-sector, low volatility, relative-value approach to investing, and has no target on the amount of capital they want under management.

Credit Suisse First Boston launched syndication last week of its $1 billion credit for NorthWestern, backing the planned acquisition of Montana Power's transmission and distribution business for $1.1 billion. Pricing on both the $400 million, 364-day revolver and $600 million, 364-day acquisition facility is LIBOR plus 11/ 4%, based on a grid, with a 20 basis points commitment fee. Spokesman, Roger Scrum of NorthWestern confirmed CSFB was arranging the revolver facilities, but was unable to answer further questions, as the acquisition has still not yet closed and Kipp Orme, v.p. of finance and cfo at Northwestern, was in New York. Asked when the acquisition is set to close, Scrum responded, " It's in the hands of the regulators." There is no set time for the deal to be approved.

An estimated total $30 million of Dade Behring's bank debt traded into the 85-86 range last Wednesday. There was also a $13 million auction that day. Deutsche Bank was said to be involved, but its exact position in the auction could not be ascertained and officials there would not comment. Dade has been trading in the mid-80s context for a few weeks, according to sources. Dealers say the seller was someone who bought the paper at new issue, close to par. Dade Behring, based in Deerfield, Ill., makes diagnostic equipment which tests how well blood coagulates. Calls to John Duffey, cfo, were referred to Pattie Overstreet-Miller, v.p. corporate communications, who could not be reached by press time.

Station Casinos originally set out to tap the market for a credit facility to help build the Green Valley Ranch, a 50% owned joint venture, but extensive delays meant that the casino is now set to open in December and the loan will be primarily for working capital. Glenn Christenson, v.p., cfo and chief administrative officer, said "the loan was to be used for construction payments, but land-use issues with the local government held up the financing." Now, a revolver is the best instrument going forward for the casino since the 40-acre site is almost up and running.

Denali Asset Management two weeks ago priced notes on its roughly $400 million collateralized loan obligation--Denali Capital CLO I-- and is still in the market completing the ramp up of 35% of the deal's collateral. Greg Cooper, managing director at Denali, said notes were priced two weeks ago and were underwritten by J.P. Morgan, as the vehicle had 65% of its collateral ramped prior to issuance of liabilities.

International Lease Finance Corp., a provider of aircraft operating leases, is talking to its lead banks about refinancing and is said to be coming to the market with a revolver as large as $2.7 billion in mid-November. The market is less than ideal for credits associated with the airline industry given the problems facing those companies. But ILFC has the potential support from parent American International Group, a AAA rated company. Additionally, it has a diverse portfolio of new aircraft and only about 15% of revenues from U.S. airlines, said Standard & Poor's analyst Philip Baggaley.

A $10 million chunk of Allied Waste traded in the 971/ 2 range. Levels have inched up as dealers note an overall firmer market. Allied has been in the 98 range for the past few weeks, and prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, had traded in the 100 range due to the defensive nature of the trash-hauling industry. "Right now it's just heavy like everything else," said a dealer. "It's been a little better. Everything has firmed up; everything's leveling off a bit. Volume is up a bit, but everyone's really cautious." The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company is one of the leading trash haulers and acquired competitor BFI. Calls to Thomas Ryan, cfo, and the investor relations department were not returned by press time.