Compulsory Convertible Debenture - CCD

  

You gotta convert it. Think: The Inquisition...but for bonds.

The conversion nomenclature describing how and when and at what price and terms is all in the indenture, i.e. the fine print when the bond was issued. But the conversion? It's not optional like it is in most bonds. It is...compulsory. Like the first day of figure skating in the Olympics, where the skaters have to carve a perfect figure 8, or spin at just the right frequency. Otherwise, it's just a debenture: a low-end bond backed only by the handshake and promise of the company to pay. Which converts, usually into shares or stock or equity of the company that issued the security.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What is Busted Convertible?14 Views

00:00

Finance a la shmoop..what is a busted convertible?

00:06

well techno growth forever biotechs swore to its customers that upon death they [Mans head enters into a glass jar]

00:12

could sever their heads freeze them and in 40 years they would have technology

00:16

to have them reborn into a really cool robot body and yeah kim kardashian model

00:22

was a huge huge hit we cannot lie.... The company stocks zoomed to a hundred

00:27

dollars a share and management needed cash to open offices in China Latin [Cash travels around the world]

00:32

America and Africa but they didn't want to suffer dilution by just selling

00:36

equity or part ownership in themselves to the street at least not at the

00:41

hundred dollar share price they really just wanted to borrow money [Cash and an IOU note appears on a table]

00:44

to fund these new offices because well they thought their stock would easily

00:48

get to $250 a share in the next few years

00:52

tons of people out there who wanted to you know live forever

00:55

you know like fame.....nevermind their bankers were nervous about how

01:00

investors would react to just a straight bond which carried 8% interest so

01:05

instead they kind of compromised by doing a convertible preferred stock [Men give handshake]

01:10

offering they sold preferred stock to the street that carried just 3% interest

01:15

but those preferred shares were convertible into common stock at a

01:19

hundred seventy five bucks a share so the owners of the preferred would keep [Stock value of biotech company rises]

01:23

clipping their three percent coupons until one day the stock hit a hundred

01:27

seventy five bucks or better well and then they could participate in the

01:31

[Man hits a baseball] upside if the stock really was a homerun but sadly as many things do in shmoop

01:36

video....Test came back from the early decapitating trials and well they were

01:40

oh so not good legions of zombies began to roam the streets and while consumers [Zombies walking along the streets]

01:45

just didn't want to go there they'd rather truly rest in peace so the stock

01:49

cratered down to $20 a share where it would sit for all eternity in what is

01:54

called a busted convertible and took us a while to get there but we got

01:58

there the convertible preferred would pay 3% a year in interest as it always [Preferred stock with 3% interest sticker]

02:03

had and a convertible stock is so far below the conversion price of $175 well,

02:09

investors assume it will never convert the investment case views

02:13

the convert solely as a preferred or kind of like a bond offering against

02:17

competitive bond interest rates so yeah that's a busted convertible although so

02:23

is this they really never should have given robot Kim K a driver's license [Robot Kim Kardashian beside an upside down, crashed car]

Up Next

Finance: What is Convertible Debt?
43 Views

What is convertible debt? Convertible debt is a type of bond that’s issued by a corporation. Ownership of these bonds means that the holder has t...

Finance: What are Secured Bonds v Unsecured Bonds, and what is Non-Recourse Debt: Debentures (Subordinated and Senior)?
68 Views

When a bond is secured, it means it's protected, i.e. there are assets that would be forfeited if repayment is not made. When it's unsecured... it'...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)