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BNP Paribas launched last Friday a $300 million letter of credit facility for Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor, an engineering and construction company which designs, builds and staffs offices. The deal is split into a three-year, $200 million revolver and a $100 million 364-day facility. Pricing is off a ratings grid, with 55 basis points on an issued credit. Commitment fees for the three-year and 364-day facilities are 15 basis points and 12.5 basis points, respectively. The company carries an A3, A- rating. From BNP Paribas' viewpoint, a letter of credit facility as a standalone asset provides a good return, while the required capital put aside as a percentage of the credit is less than for a revolver, said a banker following the deal. The deal is considered well priced to the market and to existing facilities.

Bankers said Deutsche Bank is rumored to be providing a loan backing Prestige Brands International's acquisition of Procter & Gamble's Comet cleaning brands. Prestige bought Prell Shampoo from Cincinnati-based P&G, at the end of 1999. A banker familiar with the deal, said the price of Comet would be in the region of $70-100 million, adding, P&G is looking to divest itself of smaller non-core brands and concentrate on building the bigger brands, such as Febreze, Pampers and Pringles. Monica Collins, a spokeswoman for P&G, could not speculate on whether Comet has been sold, though she confirmed Goldman Sachs was hired in the summer to select bids for Comet. Timing of the launch of the loan and possible pricing could not be ascertained. Calls to officials at Prestige were referred to Elise Donahue, v.p., sales and marketing who did not return calls. Ted Meyer, spokesman at Deutsche Bank, did not return calls by press time.

Devon Energy is preparing to issue a $2-3 billion note offering, with both 10-year and 30-year tranches in the next several weeks, according to BW sister publication Loan Market Week. Larry Nichols, the president and ceo of Devon, says the proceeds will be used to finance the purchase of Calgary-based oil and natural gas producer Anderson Exploration. It is also part of a larger financing scheme involving a five-year $6 billion term loan, to finance the cash portion of the acquisition of Mitchell Energy & Development announced last month. Nichols says UBS Warburg and Banc Of America Securities will lead both the note offering and the loan.

Brentwood, N.Y.-based Allou Health & Beauty Care, a distributor of health and beauty-aid products, is looking to issue $150-200 million in high-yield bonds in the near future to improve liquidity, according to BW sister publication Loan Market Week. David Shamilzadeh, president and cfo, declined comment on the purposes of the debt. The company has recently switched lead banks from Fleet Capital to Citibank and Congress Financial after a competitive bid offered a better interest spread. Congress is a unit of First Union National Bank. Shamilzadeh says the old $180 million asset-based revolver carried a rate of 3 1/2% over LIBOR while the new loan carries a rate of 2 1/2% over LIBOR. "The pricing speaks for itself," he said.

Schuler Homes has expanded its revolving credit facility from $225 million to $350 million in order to bring more banks into the syndicate and generate greater liquidity. "The existing $225 million facility that closed in June had four banks," said Thomas Connelly, senior v.p. and cfo. "We felt like bringing in additional exposure to more lenders." Bank of America and FleetBoston Financial led the $225 million credit, with First Hawaiian Bank the administration agent and California Bank & Trust a participant. Eight additional lenders came in on the expanded credit including BANK ONE, Key Bank and Comerica Bank.

Buysiders are cautiously eyeing the $500 million term loan "B" for Adelphia Communications as existing paper trades down in the secondary market. A banker familiar with the deal, which is lead by Bank of Nova Scotia and First Union, a division of Wachovia, said that the $2 billion pro rata portion is going smoothly as the company cajoles relationship lenders into the deal. But with existing paper trading in the secondary market below the price offered for the new "B" in syndication, investors are waiting on the sidelines. The banker added, not only is the paper trading down, but there is also lots of it. Pricing on the $1.5 billion revolver and $500 million term loan "A" is 2% over LIBOR, while the "B" carries a LIBOR plus 3% spread. The "B" also carries a 1/8% upfront fee, so in effect, it is offered at 997/ 8%, explained a banker.

Aladdin Gaming's bank debt has been steadily trading up over the last few months and reportedly hit 88 1/2 in a trade early last week. Merrill Lynch was rumored to be the seller, but the amount could not be determined. Buyers were offering 77 for Aladdin's bank debt in early June, and by July, levels had moved up to the low 80s. There were no trades reported last week. Tom Lettero, cfo, did not return calls for comment. Calls to Ben Holden, spokesman, were also not returned.

Brentwood, N.Y.-based Allou Health & Beauty Care, a distributor of health and beauty-aid products, switched lead banks from Fleet Capital to Citibank and Congress Financial after a competitive bid offered a better interest spread. Congress is a unit of First Union National Bank. David Shamilzadeh, president and cfo of Allou, said the old $180 million asset-based revolver carried a rate of 31/ 2% over LIBOR while the new loan carries a rate of 21/ 2% over LIBOR. "The pricing speaks for itself," he said.

American Airlines is bringing a $2 billion enhanced equipment trust certificate transaction to market today, considered the largest EETC to date, according to BW sister publication Corporate Financing Week. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley will be co-joint bookrunners. The issue will be sold under rule 144A to qualified institutional investors. The second largest EETC was issued by United Airlines and came in slightly over $1.5 billion in December 2000.

Salomon Smith Barney,Bank of America,J.P. Morgan and First Union co-led and launched two separate deals last week for FPL Group Capital and its subsidiary Florida Power & Light. The Salomon and B of A deal for FPL Group Capital is $2 billion. J.P. Morgan and First Union's deal for the subsidiary is $1 billion, according to a market source. Each is divided into 364-day and three-year pieces, she said. Pricing on the $2 billion loan is LIBOR plus 25 basis points with a step-up by 10 basis points each time if 33% and 66% of the loan is drawn, she explained. Commitment fees are 8 to 12.5 basis points and the facility fees are 8 basis points on the 364-day and 10 basis points on the three-year lines.

Eric Green, a portfolio manager at Penn Capital Management, has recently been adding to his position in Pegasus Communications on the view that Pegasus is an excellent yield play and a likely takeover candidate. Green has been buying the zero coupon notes of '07 (Caa1/CCC+) because they offer considerably more yield than comparable cash pay paper, and he believes the principal will be paid off when the bonds mature. Last week, the zeros traded at 58, giving it a current yield of 18.14%, while 9.625% senior notes of '05 (B3/CCC+) traded at 92, giving them a yield-to-worst of 12.14%.