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On the Pricing of Step-Up Bonds in the European Telecom Sector

Author

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  • Lando, David

    (Department of Finance, Copenhagen Business School)

  • Mortensen, Allan

    (Department of Finance, Copenhagen Business School)

Abstract

This paper investigates the pricing of step-up bonds, i.e. corporate bonds with provisions stating that the coupon payments increase as the credit rating level of the issuer declines. To assess the risk-neutral rating transition probabilities necessary to price these bonds, we introduce a new calibration method within the reduced-form rating-based model of Jarrow, Lando, and Turnbull (1997). We also treat split ratings and adjust for rating outlook. Step-up bonds have been issued in large amounts in the European telecom sector, and we find that, through most of the sample, step-up bonds issued by the two largest issuers have traded at a discount relative to comparable fixed-coupon bonds from the same issuers. Our findings cannot be attributed to traditional liquidity factors, and they suggest that issuing step-up bonds increased the cost of capital for the issuers.

Suggested Citation

  • Lando, David & Mortensen, Allan, 2004. "On the Pricing of Step-Up Bonds in the European Telecom Sector," Working Papers 2004-9, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cbsfin:2004_009
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    File URL: http://openarchive.cbs.dk/cbsweb/handle/10398/7184
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    Cited by:

    1. Sarkar, Sudipto & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2015. "Underinvestment and the design of performance-sensitive debt," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 240-253.
    2. Bank, Matthias & Kupfer, Alexander, 2014. "A sequential pricing framework for corporate securities: The case of rating-trigger step-up/-down bonds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 437-445.
    3. Bruno Biais & Thomas Mariotti & Guillaume Plantin & Jean-Charles Rochet, 2007. "Dynamic Security Design: Convergence to Continuous Time and Asset Pricing Implications," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 345-390.
    4. Myklebust, Tor Åge, 2012. "Performance Sensitive Debt - Investment and Financing Incentives," Discussion Papers 2012/7, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    5. Koziol, Christian & Lawrenz, Jochen, 2010. "Optimal design of rating-trigger step-up bonds: Agency conflicts versus asymmetric information," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 182-204, April.
    6. Sudipto Sarkar & Chuanqian Zhang, 2016. "Loan-commitment borrowing and performance-sensitive debt," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 973-986, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    defaultable bonds; step-up coupons; rating-based models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing

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