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January 30, 2009 - Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Securities are in the market with a deal for Ultra Petroleum. The deal was on the road last week and is expected to price-up this week.

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January 23, 2009 - Barclays Capital and JPMorgan Securities' deal for U.K.-based QinetiQ Group plc priced up at $300 million in size and with seven- and 10-year tranches both at 535 basis points over Treasurys.

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January 19, 2009 - Barclays Capital and JPMorgan Securities were on the verge of pricing their deal for U.K.-based defense technology company QinetiQ Group as PPL went to press last week.

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January 12, 2009 - For the record...energy company Avista Corp. tapped the private placement market for $30 million in a first mortgage bond via KeyBanc Capital Markets in late December.

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January 5, 2009 - National Australia Bank has postponed its deal for Australia-based mining company Iluka Resources.

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December 15, 2008 - Terry Martin has left JPMorgan Securities where he was a managing director and head of the firm's private placement group.

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December 8, 2008 - JPMorgan Securities wrapped up its $50 million first mortgage bond for Michigan Electric Transmission Co. (METC) last week, and BofA prices deal for MLB.

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December 1, 2008 - National Australia Bank's $30 million private placement for Australia-based mining company Iluka Resources Ltd. was still in the market as of press time last week. Price talk on the five- and seven-year deal was in the 675 basis points over Treasurys area. The deal is considered NAIC-2.

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November 24, 2008 - Genworth Financial has named Ronald Joelson its new chief investment officer. Joelson joins Genworth from JPMorgan Asset Management where he was managing director of insurance strategic markets since July 2007.

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November 14, 2008 - New York Life Investment Management has officially announced the hire of Gail McDermott to its fixed income investors group as managing director and head of private finance.

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November 7, 2008 - Banc of America Securities is rumored to be shopping a deal for the National Basketball Association. The NBA was reported to be seeking funds as recently as mid-September, however, the deal was not finalized, and sources said it is being brought back.

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October 31, 2008 - Gail McDermott has joined New York Life Investment Management from SG Americas (Societe Generale), where she was a managing director and head of bank loan syndication based in New York. McDermott is expected to start at N.Y. Life in mid-November as head of the firm's private placement group.

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October 27, 2008 - New York Life has made a new hire in its private placement team. The search for a new team member was concluded last week, with executive staffing firm Butterfass, Pepe & McCallan conducting the search.

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October 13, 2008 - Deutsche Bank priced a somewhat low-key deal for Oiltanking Gmbh last week. Apparently the bank is not disclosing details of the transaction, and some sources were unaware that the transaction had priced at all. Other sources confirmed, however, that it had in fact priced. The global oil and chemicals storage company was seeking E70 million ($97.5 million) in a nine-, 12-, and 15-year deal launched early in September.

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October 6, 2008 - Banc of America Securities and Barclays Capital priced an upsized deal for U.K.-based Compass Group plc on Sept. 25. The deal finished at $332 million in size, up from $200 million at launch, and priced in five-, and seven-year tranches, both at 350 basis points over Treasurys. There was also an eight-year sterling component to the deal. Twelve investors participated in the transaction.