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Though spreads on Abbey National Bank benchmark issues tightened towards Lloyds TSB after Lloyds bid for the U.K. mortgage bank, last week's revelation of why the deal was referred to competition authorities will force spreads wider again, according to City players. Larissa Knepper, research analyst at Barclays Capital in London, says, "We've seen Abbey spreads converging close to Lloyds up until the referral [to the Competition Commission]. Since then spreads have remained static, but I believe Abbey spreads will drift wider in the next few weeks." The Office of Fair Trading revealed its rationale on Thursday for referring the merger to the Commission for examination, citing heavy consolidation in the area of current accounts. The deal is on hold until the investigation is concluded.

FleetBoston is syndicating a $250 million deal for natural food producer Hain Celestial Group that the company will use to finance acquisitions and refinance some of its outstanding debt. Gary Jacobs, cfo, said the company is looking for the deal to close by the end of March. Jacobs said the company selected FleetBoston as lead arranger because the company has a longstanding relationship with the bank and Fleet provides the company with its cash management services.

Fleet Bank is looking for one to two additional commitments of at least $5 million but as high as $25 million to close a $150 million construction loan deal. The bank is close to completing syndication on the deal made to a joint venture between Congress Group Ventures, National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) and Value Enhancement Fund IV, two funds advised by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments. Wells Fargo underwrote half the deal, one banker said. PNC Bank has committed to hold $20 million while Sovereign Bank will hold $25 million. The loan is priced at LIBOR plus 2?%.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. recently closed a $2 billion credit that it arranged itself, relying on banks for advise and help in rounding out the syndicate. Stephen Farber, senior v.p. of finance, explained that the company chose to skip an underwriter partly because it was cheaper. Also, Tenet had developed a relationship with several banks and believed it could get a deal on its own.

Several $5 million pieces of Iasis Healthcare traded in the 100 3/4 range last week in the wake of a $200 million initial public offering that will pay down bank debt. Names of buyers and sellers could not be determined, but dealers said the credit is attractive for its yield value. "People want to play a yield to call; it's going to get paid down at 101," a trader said. "People that want to play healthcare know that it's a name that's done fairly well."

Fleet Bank and Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown snagged a $300 million credit replacing Wachovia Corp. for JDN Realty Corp. The banks are looking for 10-12 lenders to round out the syndicate. PNC Bank, which also participated in the previous line, has already committed $25 million. Commerzbank will act as documentation agent, and is holding $50 million, one banker said. SouthTrust Bank, Key Bank and First Tennessee National Bank will be participating in this deal as well, he added. Charles Talbert, director of investor relations at the REIT, confirmed the REIT was in the process of renewing its credit line but declined to elaborate or comment on the lead banks. Wachovia did not bid on the deal, officials at the bank said, declining to elaborate.

Lower ad revenues pushed down levels for Emmis Communications' bank debt to 100 1/8, dealers said. The broadcasting industry has weakened as major televised events like the Olympics and the Presidential election are over. Since January the company's levels have shifted dropping slightly and nudging back up as market players anticipated earnings reports. Two weeks ago levels slid to 99 3/8 in anticipation of a weak earnings report then jumped back up to 100 3/8 when the company came out with numbers that met projections. Emmis, based in Indianapolis, Ind., owns and operates more than 20 radio stations in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago as well as two radio networks. A company spokeswoman did not return calls.

Bank debt for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) last week traded in the 90s from the 70s range, dealers said, noting improved performance. "They executed their business plan pretty well," a dealer said. The company manages nearly 70,000 prison beds in more than 75 facilities. In 1997 Prison Realty Trust was spun off from CCA, which managed many of the REIT's prisons. High-profile prison escapes and a cooling REIT market hurt the company, which merged back into CCA.

A last-minute interpolation into the legislative history of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act by Rep.Jim Leach (R-Iowa) is creating another hassle between financial institutions and the Federal Reserve over what financial holding companies are allowed to do. In recent days, the Fed has been getting sharply worded complaints because the central bank wants to put an aggregate cap of only five percent of tier one capital on certain electronic activities it proposes allowing FHC's to do as "complementary" to financial.

Indianapolis-based, Duke-Weeks Realty Corporation increased its $450 million facility to $500 million upon refinancing the credit. Gene Zink, cfo, said "it would take a book not a newsletter," to describe why the company increased the credit, declining to elaborate on the reasoning behind it. The company signed the new $500 million credit on Feb. 28 for what Zink described as operating capital purposes. The old $450 million, three-year facility was maturing in March and will be replaced with a three-year revolver.

TheHouston Texans, a new National Football League franchise, signed a $150 million secured credit facility to go toward its league entrance fees totaling $700 million. Scott Schwinger, cfo, said the facility also funds general start-up costs for the team, which replaces theOilers in Houston. Each year the Texans will sign a new facility, paying league fees in installments.

Washington Group's bank debt fell from par to distressed almost overnight last week after the company announced it was at risk of violating covenants on a deal it signed in July. A pro rata piece traded around 60, and by late last week levels were quoted in the 52-56 range. One dealer reported $60 million had traded in that range on Thursday with Deutsche Bank reportedly handling the trades. Once a par name, Washington's precipitous plunge stunned some traders. "People assumed it was a par credit, the deal got done, and then it was like, crash," a dealer said. "Now people are quoting it in the 60s." A Washington Group spokeswoman declined to comment on bank debt levels.