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St. Louis-based Ralcorp, a maker of store-brand foods, rolled two credit facilities into a new three-year, $275 million revolver, led by BANK ONE and Wachovia Bank. Thomas Granneman, v.p., and controller, said Ralcorp had two facilities maturing in January and April next year. BANK ONE has been the lead bank for several years and Wachovia has also been a lead arranger for the company on the last few credits. Ralcorp did not put out to bid the lead arranger slots, but looked informally at several banks, Granneman noted, declining to name them. "There was a range in what the banks were offering," he said, declining to elaborate, but ultimately the existing relationships were most important. He declined comment on the spread on the old or new loans.

Regal Cinemas bank debt reportedly traded in the 102-104 range last week on news of the company filing for bankruptcy. While two dealers confirmed levels in that range, one said they were actually higher. However, he declined to give an exact level. The company filed in mid-October as part of a prepackaged restructuring program under which investor Philip Anschutz will take control of the company. Calls to Dick Westerling, head of investor relations, were not returned. The cinema chain is based in Knoxville, Tenn.

The calendar heated up substantially as pent up supply from September hit the market. Ford hit the market with a $3 billion transaction that quickly grew to $9.4 billion, the 5th largest corporate bond transaction ever done. Between the rating downgrades earlier in the week and the subsequent deal pricing, Ford spreads widened as much as 40 bp. Spreads tightened after the deal was priced as they did for the other jumbo of the week, BellSouth. The technical situation in the market steadily deteriorated, however, with dealers taking more and more paper in on swap. By the time the GM deal was announced after the close on Wednesday, secondary spreads were already under pressure. The GM deal sealed it with auto spreads and other high beta names widening 10-20 bp.

Wyndham International's "B" paper traded up to 81 from 78 last week as distressed buyers start to take an interest in the paper. Approximately $7 million changed hands. Traders also said that the credit has gone from being a par name and is now being traded by distressed dealers for the anticipated recovery. "Par guys are not in it anymore," said one. "Distressed players are making their bets on it." Dallas-based Wyndham manages 240 hotels. Richard Smith, cfo, referred questions to investor relations department which did not return calls.

An estimated $20 million of Xerox's bank debt reportedly traded early last week around 81-83. Also, early last week, Standard & Poor's downgraded the commercial paper to BB from BBB- on increased market uncertainty. While the S&P rating noted the company's strides in reducing debt by selling assets and getting vendor financing, the downturn in the economy could limit Xerox's growth projections. In a conference call last Tuesday, the company said the Sept. 11 attacks had caused an unprecedented loss in the company's business. As the rating notes, economic weakness reduced prospects for significant improvement. One market player spoke optimistically about the company's strategy, even in light of the latest forecast. "They're doing everything they're supposed to do from vendor financing to cutting costs. They got themselves out of the hole," he said. "The only thing against them is that the economy is weak." Calls to Barry Romeril, cfo, were referred to spokeswoman Christa Carone, who declined to comment.

Over 100 European bankers, analysts and company officials gathered in Rome last week for the Second Annual Issuers' and Investors' Summit on Italian & Southern European ABS. They spoke about investor appetite for securitizations, market growth and obstacles, pending legislation, repackaged finance deals and the different kinds of assets available for securitization. BondWeek Senior Reporter Rachel Wolcottfiled the following stories:

Vertical Crossings has hired Ken Clisham to be a senior relationship manager for its institutional structured product accounts. Patrick Downes, the New York firm's president, says Clisham, who joined several weeks ago, will be a managing director, and is in a new slot. He is a mortgage-backed securities market veteran, who had been a senior pass-through trader at Merrill Lynch, Greenwich Capital Markets and Chase Securities, and had worked with Downes at GCM, when Downes was head of that firm's collateralized mortgage obligation sales effort in the late 90s.

Lehman Brothers $100 million asset-based loan for Q Services, which was launched two weeks ago, by last Wednesday, had landed $25 million in commitments beyond the Lehman commitment. Further commitment levels could not be ascertained. Q Services helps maintain and enhance the production of oil and natural gas wells, an attractive sector right now, said a banker following the deal. In addition, the asset-based facility plays well to the market. Pricing is at LIBOR plus 4 1/2 % for the credit, consisting of an $80 million term loan and a $20 million revolver. The credit refinances existing debt. Calls to officials at Q Services were not returned.

The Loans Syndications and Trading Association has published procedures for credit agreement modifications to establish market standards for syndicated credit agreements, just as a flurry of activity in this area occupies the market. "The procedures are designed to guide the market and are not legally binding, but the market can have a standard to follow," explained Jane Summers, general counsel for the LSTA. The plan is to give the procedures a couple of months and then revisit in the first quarter of 2002.

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."