New Priceline slips outright, trades flat on hedge after reoffer; existing Priceline off

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Aug. 15 – Priceline Group Inc.’s newly priced $1 billion of 0.9% convertibles slipped a little outright but were in line, or flat, on a hedged basis on Friday after the Norwalk, Conn.-based online travel company priced the seven-year notes at a discount to par and at the cheap end of coupon talk, market sources said.

The new Priceline convertibles were quoted at 98.5 bid, 99.5 offered near the end of the session on Friday with the underlying shares down 1% at about $1,270.00. The bonds had been reoffered at 99.

The new deal accounted for a good chunk of Friday’s trading, but Priceline’s existing convertibles were also down about 0.5 point to 0.75 point on an outright basis in active trade.

The Priceline deal capped off a strong week for new issuance, but pricing was not that strong. Of the week’s deals, AOL Inc.’s new 0.75% convertibles outperformed the rest of the field in first-day trading on Thursday, adding 3 points on swap on their debut. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc.’s 5.5% convertible senior notes, on the other hand, sank after the New York-based real estate investment trust priced a $100 million add-on to that issue, which debuted on Wednesday.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s new 2% convertibles added about 0.5 point on swap on Tuesday after the Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company priced an upsized $300 million of the senior notes at the rich end of talk.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.