qquebec
Super Moderator
A debt for equity swap of Lighthouse is reported to be under discussion according to Italian press
“Sell” PGIM 10.5% 01/17 at 89.8 or a Z-spread of 1,051 bps; “Speculative Buy” on LIGHTH 8% 4/14 if bonds fall below 30
As we had anticipated in our initiation report released February 21st, PGIM is currently considering a debt for equity swap of the Lighthouse bonds, according to a weekend report in La Repubblica. That same report says an equity injection as well as a debt extension have been ruled out. The lack of equity injection would not be surprising given the poor share price development over the last few months. However, we think a roll-over into longer dated paper may still be an option for some parts of the capital structure, such as bank debt and senior secured bonds. We think a major difficulty for Lighthouse lies in the 90% voting threshold under the indenture, making it relatively easy for either a cash investor or basis trader to obtain a blocking position and try to force out value in the negotiation. In our view, this difficulty could be dealt with by going through the route of a voluntary offer to Lighthouse bondholders, although that would carry significant execution risk as it would expose lenders and equity investors to extra uncertainty. We think the best way for the restructuring to occur remains for anchor lenders and investors at all levels to agree to a consensual deal which provides a degree of certainty to the market. We think a white knight bid is very unlikely , either pre or post restructuring, although it cannot be excluded. The European debt crisis may also push investors to move quicker than originally anticipated. We continue to believe there is value in Lighthouse bonds below 30. We maintain our “Very High Risk” assessment on the LARA scale.
Lighthouse in picchiata: 32/35 su Francoforte
