In Brief: Credit Suisse, CIBC in All-Bank Syndication

Credit Suisse First Boston and Canadian Imperial Bank Corp. are expected to close a $1.1 billion leveraged syndication this week for Hayes Lemmerz International Inc.

The deal is unusual in that the entire loan will be syndicated among banks, which, as of Friday, included 38. An institutional piece of the loan was scrapped after banks showed strong interest in the deal, a bank group source said.

Hayes Lemmerz, a Detroit auto parts maker, is using the proceeds to help fund its buyout of CMI International Inc. That deal, announced in November, included a December bond issue managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and priced at Treasuries plus 340 basis points.

Pricing for the bank loan was initially set at the London interbank offered rate plus 275 basis points. But when the loan was launched Jan. 12, the spread above Libor had fallen to 200 basis points, a signal that the market is recovering from the high pricing seen late last year.

Merrill Lynch & Co. and Dresdner Bank are co-documentation agents.

Syndicated lenders have their hands full with the rapidly consolidating auto industry. Federal Mogul Corp. announced last week that it would refinance much of its debt as it engages in a bidding war with TRW Inc. for England's LucasVarity PLC.

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