Search results for

Nextel Communications' "B/C" paper is trending upward again, last hitting 90 in a total of $20 million in trades. Dealers cite new product offerings as helping to push the credit back up. On Nov. 14 the company announced the official launch of an all-digital wireless network and services combining digital cellular, digital two-way radio, wireless Internet access and text/numeric messaging in one compact phone.

New York-based Patriarch Partners has reportedly closed a roughly $560 million collateralized loan obligation. Market sources said the CLO is backed by collateral comprised of leveraged loans. CIBC World Markets was the underwriter on the notes backing the deal. David Power, CDO syndications banker at CIBC, confirmed the deal closed, but would not elaborate further on the transaction's structure. Officials at Patriarch Partners did not return repeated phone calls.

Buysiders say the $385 million "B" tranche of the $685 million deal for Premdor has been pulled from the market and lead arranger Bank of Montreal and co-syndication agents SunTrust and Scotia Capital are stuck holding the bag on the fully funded acquisition credit. Robert Tubbesing, v.p. of finance and cfo at Premdor, was not available for comment. Arnold Rubin, manager of cash management, referred questions to Paul Bernards, v.p. and controller, who did not return calls. The credit backs the door maker's purchase of International Paper from Masonite.

BNP Paribas is shopping a $2 billion, one-year commercial paper backstop for Zurich Capital Markets, an increase on the current $1.25 billion facility. A banker noted pricing on the investment-grade credit is similar to the last deal at LIBOR plus 22.5 basis points, though there are slightly better up-front fees and enhanced support from the parent company Zurich Capital. Last year the BNP-led facility blew out to $2 billion despite the light up-front fees of less than 3 basis points for commitments up to $200 million, with bankers citing ZCM as a key relationship account for lenders and the double-A rating.

The $275 million bank deal for CommScope led by CIBC World Markets and Citibank has been nixed after investors refused to bite on the richly priced and discounted "B" term loan and the company reworked its' acquisition plans. Phil Armstrong, director of investor relations for CommScope, would not confirm the bank deal has been cancelled, but said difficulties in the financing market were among a list of reasons why CommScope is scaling back its investment in Lucent Technologies fiber-optic cable business. As part of the new joint venture CommScope is investing $203 million in cash and equity to buy the business and Furukawa Electric will pay over $2 billion in cash. A source familiar with the deal said the banks may come back with a rejiggered credit.

Credit Suisse First Boston and BNP Paribas launched the underwriting phase of the $600 million Teco Tricon project loan last Thursday. A banker familiar with the deal said 12 banks have been approached for $75 million commitments. The spread on the deal is LIBOR plus 13/ 4%, but fees were not disclosed. Underwriting on the credit is expected to close by year-end, he added.

Mark Grotevant, one of the co-heads of high-yield research atCredit Suisse First Boston, and the firm's sole remaining senior telecom analyst, plans to leave the firm by year-end. His departure set off a series of rumors across Street high-yield desks, most of which centered on the possibility that Grotevant was a victim of CSFB's high-profile compensation renegotiation activities. Bennett Goodman, CSFB's global head of leveraged finance, dismisses this out of hand, saying that Grotevant is retiring from the sell-side and notes that, "He's going to have a very big bonus, and hopefully he'll go to the buyside and be a client." Sam DeRosa-Farag, global strategist, and Tom Klamka, who covers industrials, had shared high-yield research management responsibilities with Grotevant, and will stay on as co-heads, according to Cristina von Bargen, a firm spokeswoman.