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Lead banks Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have increased pricing and added call protection to the "B' tranche of their $500 million bank deal for PacifiCare Health Systems in an effort to jump-start a slow syndication. Pricing on the $350 million "B" tranche has been flexed up 1/2% from 3 3/4 % to 4 1/4 % over LIBOR. Call protection is set at 103, 102 and 101 over the first three years of the seven-year loan. Officials at PacifiCare and bankers at Morgan Stanley and B of A did not return calls.

Bondholders of "cusp" credits--those teetering on the lowest rungs of investment grade--are increasingly getting stung when such companies have to renegotiate credit facilities with commercial banks. Bondholders often find themselves pushed further below the commercial banks in the capital structure as banks demand collateral, or stricter covenants as part of a refinancing package. In other situations, banks are extending loans contingent on the completion of a bond deal if the deal does not get done, making a company a serious default risk. Refinancing difficulties at IMC Global (Ba2/B+) resulted in a four-notch downgrade from Standard & Poor's, sending the 73/8% of '18 down from $77 on May 2 to $56 on May 4. More recently, the agency downgraded U.S. Industries (Ba2/CCC+) two notches, driving bids on the71/8% of '03 to 77 last week, down from 92 before the downgrade. Market pros expect the trend to continue and say investors need to be on alert.

Bridge Information Systems' debt inched up to 41 from 38 last week in a trade of an undetermined amount. The New York City-based company provides real-time and historical stock data. Calls to Stephen Wilson, cfo, were not returned by press time. A market watcher said the company's biggest problem is it's a direct competitor with financial information provider Bloomberg. As a result, he noted, the company's credit struggled in syndication two years ago. "We looked at it and noticed the syndication process wasn't going well. An underwriter wanted to sell it at 98, and nobody went near it," he said, adding that geography may be the credit's saving grace. "Bridge had regional strength on the West Coast, while Bloomberg is East Coast-focused. But even that's a problem, since the financial centers are in New York and Boston," the dealer added.

Optical networks communications firm Broadwing has increased its credit line from $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion with a six-year, $200 million, "C" term loan.Credit Suisse First Boston was picked to lead the add-on for the Cincinnati-based company, which is intended to reduce the borrowings on the revolver to increase liquidity, said Mark Peterson, treasurer. Broadwing wanted to have a longer maturity date on some paper, noted Peterson, explaining the decision to use a "C" term loan rather than increase the "A" or "B" tranches.

Deutsche Bank hiredTed Hsueh, a former Merrill Lynch ABS banker, as v.p.for its asset-backed group's home equity division in New York. He will report to Nita Cherry, managing director and Peter Cerwin, director, who both report to the U.S. head of the asset securitization group, Richard D'Albert. Hsueh will replace former v.p. Lisa McLean, who is no longer with the bank.

John Stark, a longtime creditor committee presence as head of distressed investments at PPM America, has started Water Tower Capital LLC to advise creditor committee's with their workout plans. Stark, whose firm just received its first mandate when it was appointed as an adviser to the workout group of Finova corp., says that the outlook for distressed advisory has never been brighter, given the amount of creditors that have suddenly found themselves involved in bankruptcy proceedings. One distressed investor who has worked with Stark before reasons that with the increased defaults in telecom and utilities, two areas where investors were explicitly not making distressed bets, a premium will be placed on having a creditor committee adviser with no stake in the resolution.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Federal-Mogul's $1.75 billion in senior secured facilities to B3 from B2 due to cash flow concerns. The rating notes escalating concerns that the company will continue to produce negative cash flow through 2002 and that existing availability under the U.S. and foreign bank credit facilities may prove insufficient to get Federal-Mogul through the economic downturn. Federal-Mogul, headquartered in Southfield, Mich., is a global manufacturer and distributor of a broad range of vehicular components for automobiles.

Offers for Federal Mogul's bank debt have pulled back to the mid-60s from the high 60s and an analyst said it may be heading for a covenant violation if the company's current trend continues. Market players say the paper hasn't traded in weeks as the flurry of companies filing for Chapter 11 has put market players' attention elsewhere. The Southfield, Mich.-based company makes components for cars, trucks, and construction vehicles. Calls to a spokesman were not returned.

First Union is the sole lead on a $200 million refinancing credit for St. Louis, Mo.-based Graybar Electric after Banc of America Securities decided to walk away from the deal. A banker commented that B of A decided that the relationship was not profitable enough to be a co-lead, a position it has held for the last two refinancings and several years. Officials at Graybar and B of A did not return calls. Bankers at First Union declined to comment.

Bankers are anticipating another deal in the hot health care sector as J.W. Childs Associates and The Halifax Group get set to acquire InSight Health Services for $200 million, with an additional $200 million debt assumption. Bankers said UBS Warburg and Banc of America Securities are likely to have the inside track on the deal, after working on the sale of the Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm. Calls to Halifax and J.W. Childs were not returned. Repeated calls to Thomas Croal, executive v.p. and cfo of InSight, were also not returned.

Milan-based Wind has chosen three banks to lead its 5.5 billion credit facility, and those lenders are interviewing other firms for the remaining spots on the syndicate. A banker familiar with the deal said the Italian operator--the closest competitor to incumbent Telecom Italia--selected J.P. Morgan, Citibank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to lead arrange the deal. The trio is looking to add to the list of banks participating in the syndicate. ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas and Intesa Bci are at present in the syndicate. A spokeswoman at Wind declined to comment on the deal, which is composed of two tranches--a 4.4 billion term loan and a 1.1 billion revolver.

Confusion reigned over the status of Mediacom Communications' new bank debt, as the deal reportedly broke for trading and then was halted by agent J.P. Morgan three hours later last Tuesday. "I've never seen this done with a deal that hasn't traded yet," said a confused trader about the halt in action. "I didn't even know it could be done. It usually happens when there's an amendment to a credit." A J.P. Morgan spokeswoman declined to comment. Rocco Commisso, ceo of the cable company based in Middletown, N.Y., did not return repeated return calls for comment.