The Royal Bank of Scotland has hired David Morin from ABN Amro as a v.p. trading leveraged and non-leveraged loans. Morin, who is well known in the market for possessing strong credit skills and expertise in energy names, will report to Rob Gianni, and Art de Pena, co-heads of loan sales and trading. “He’s very talented, very well liked in the market,” a trader said about Morin, who is also expected to trade stressed credits. Morin was at ABN for two years having joined from Morgan Stanley.
Morin did not return calls, though an RBS banker confirmed the hire. At ABN, Morin reported to Catherine Yelverton, managing director and global head of loan trading. Yelverton was traveling and could not be reached. An ABN spokesman did not return calls by press time.
RBS has made a series of significant hires in the past two years to build a loan platform in the U.S. Most recently, the firm hired Jeff Stuart as managing director and head of loan markets for the Americas (LMW, 7/23). Stuart was previously at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi where he was head of structuring and marketing for syndications. Gianni was hired last fall from UBS alongside de Pena from Credit Suisse First Boston.
The beefed up team seems to be delivering. The bank landed a lead spot next to Bank of America on MGM Mirage’s $6 billion loan backing the acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group. This launched in Vegas earlier this month and $9 billion is said to be in the book. “By the standard of a BB credit, this is a total blow-out,” said one banker. He added that it is essential for any bank wanting to be a gaming lender to be on this deal.
The deal is structured as a $4.5 billion revolver and a $1.5 billion term loan. Pricing is based on leverage, ranging from LIBOR plus 75 basis points to LIBOR plus 175 basis points. It will be LIBOR plus 175 bps to begin with. Ticket sizes of $550 million, $450 million and $350 million will bag 75 bps, 60 bps and 50 bps, respectively.
Other leads include J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Wachovia Securities, Société Générale, US Bank and Merrill Lynch. Jim Murren, president, cfo and treasurer of MGM, said before the meeting, that the bank market has not been this strong in 20 years. But he also pointed to MGM’s story as a reason for bank willingness to lend. In 2000 the company bought the Mirage for $6.4 billion, using $4.3 billion in bank financing with total leverage of 5.5 times. Prior to this acquisition, leverage was brought down to 4.2 times.