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UBS Warburg will hold a bank meeting for Hollywood Entertainment on Jan. 23, launching syndication of a $175 million facility. The deal refinances a $255 million Société Générale-led facility that expires in March and is contingent on a $100 million stock sale (LMW, 12/17). Comprising a $25 million revolver and a $150 million term loan, pricing should be in the LIBOR plus 31/ 2% range for the revolver and LIBOR plus 4% for the term loan, said a banker.

Accredo Health has tapped Bank of America for an expanded $275 million acquisition credit backing the $415 million purchase of the specialty pharmaceutical services division of Gentiva, leaving investors excited about owning paper in a "very hot sector." Launch is expected in several weeks, said one buysider, who also bemoaned the paucity of primary new issuance in this area. Pricing and the size of a "B" tranche have not been determined, the buysider said. At closing the transaction will be paid half in cash using the senior secured credit facility, said CFO Joel Kimbrough, in a conference call. The other half will be stock, he added. Accredo has a $60 million revolver with B of A, according to Capital DATA Loanware. B of A officials did not return calls.

Iridium's bank debt jumped to 45 from 28 last week following news that Motorola would have to pay $300 million of Iridium's debt. A court ordered early last week that Motorola would have to pay J.P. Morgan to satisfy a guaranteed part of an $800 million loan made to the now defunct Iridium when Morgan was still Chase Manhattan Bank. The payment of the $300 million, guaranteed by Motorola, will be spread across the $800 million credit, so holders of the bank debt will get back 37.5 cents on the dollar, plus 7.5 cents in interest, market players said. Bear Stearns was reportedly involved in the trades, but that could not be confirmed with officials there.

BNP Paribas' has garnered $1.85 billion for insurance giant Zurich Capital Markets' ZCM Matched Funding Corp. but is still hoping to bring in a few more banks to round the facility up to $2 billion. Paul Dart, managing director in global treasury corporate finance, said ZCM is the funding vehicle for Zurich Capital Markets and is used to support a $2.5 billion commercial paper program. The last facility was $1.25 billion, but more was required so the flexibility is there to expand the program.

Kmart, the struggling discount retailer, is looking to refinance about $1.5 billion in credit facilities and slap on an additional $400-500 million, but bankers say the company will have to pay up to get it done. As first reported last week on LMW's Web site, Kmart is looking at a $1.5 billion revolver and a $500 million institutional tranche, said a banker. "Some relationship lenders will probably bail," he added, so the institutional tranche would be built in to widen the universe of potential investors. The spread is currently LIBOR plus 1%, but the once BB+ company which is now BB is more likely to have pricing in the LIBOR plus 21/ 2% range, sources said. Bankers have suggested the company will have to go down the asset-based route in order to leverage the mass of inventory and assets rather than rely on an uncertain cash flow.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has hired a head of leveraged finance for Spain. Beltrán Paredes joins from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he was head of the acquisition finance team in Spain, according to a firm spokeswoman. Also joining RBS in Spain is Rocio Cuenca-Torres as a director. Cuenca-Torres, who is transferring from the Paris office, will be responsible for acquisition and mezzanine finance activities in Spain and Portugal. Both will report to Eric Mallaroni and Euan Hamilton, co-heads of leveraged finance in London. Calls to a DrKB spokeswoman were not returned by press time. Calls to RBS' Mallaroni seeking further comment on RBS' strategy also were not returned. Earlier this month, RBS said it was building its debt capital markets capabilities in France and would be leveraging its established leveraged finance practice as part of that initiative (BW, 1/7).

Loral Space & Communications, the satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services company, has extended the maturity of its credit facilities, including the $600 million Loral SpaceCom Facility and the $494 million Loral Satellite Facility. Loral also improved the amortization schedules, explained Tony Doumlele, senior director of investor relations. The extension frees Loral from principal payments of $535 million in 2002.

A Jan. 3 sell recommendation on Magellan Health Services issued by Elie Radinsky, a high-yield health care analyst at Jefferies & Co. and a 2001 Institutional Investor All-America Fixed-Income team runner-up, created a stir in the junk community. In response to his actions,Kathleen Lamb of Credit Suisse First Boston, an II second-teamer, sent a Bloomberg message criticizing Radinsky to her research colleagues and sales force. Meanwhile, Magellan, a psychiatric care provider and major junk issuer, has seen its bond prices fluctuate wildly.

Robin Menzel, a senior high-yield analyst covering industrials and utilities at Lehman Brothers in London, has left the firm. Menzel had been at Lehman for one and a half years. He could not be reached for comment. Stuart Prosser, a firm spokesman, declined to comment on his departure, other than noting that the firm is actively seeking a replacement.Luke Spajic, another high-yield analyst, has assumed Menzel's responsibilities for now, according to Lehman insiders. Spajic declined to comment.

London-based analyst Marc Watton of BNP Paribas is warning investors to avoid Spanish electric utilities' paper, because he fears the sector could suffer the same fate as happened in California. "In Spain there have already been blackouts and there are no plans to build any generation capacity," says Watton, adding that last month prices on the wholesale market peaked and supply failed to meet demand as suppliers scrambled to meet their obligations. In addition, Spain's electricity interconnectors with its neighbors Portgual and France are inadequate and already fully utilized with existing contracts, he says. Accordingly, Watton recommends avoiding all from Endesa, Ibedrola, Union Fenosa and Hidroelectrica del Cantabrico. To add to the problems, Spain is highly dependant on hydro-electric power, which could suffer in the event of a dry winter.

High-yield portfolio managers are increasingly optimistic about the prospects for the lodging sector. Bonds of lodging companies were hit hard as travel fell off in the wake of Sept. 11. However, Mark Durbiano, portfolio manager at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh, says several names can get through whatever remains of the downturn. Federated has added to its holdings of Hilton Hotels 8.25% notes of '11 (Ba1/BBB-), which were trading at 97 last week. It has also bought Starwood Hotels' 6.75% notes of '05 (Ba1/BBB-) and Vail Resorts' 8.75% notes of '09 (Ba3/B), which were trading at 98 and 97.5, respectively. Durbiano says he likes these companies because they have "a very strong asset base."