New Maiden mandatory flat to higher with lower shares; Goodrich, DryShips recoup losses

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Sept. 26 -Maiden Holdings Ltd.'s newly priced mandatory convertible preferreds traded flat to a little higher out of the chute Thursday despite a lower common stock after the Bermuda-based reinsurance company priced an upsized $150 million of the preferreds at the midpoint of talked terms, according to a syndicate source.

The new Maiden 7.25% preferred was quoted at $50.00 bid, $50.35 offered by the syndicate source. But volume was very light, a New York-based trader said. The preferreds have a $50.00 par.

Maiden shares were off by about a nickel in the early going but took another leg lower just before 11 a.m. ET, trading down 12 cents, or 1%, at $12.27.

Elsewhere there was an upward bias in the convertibles market as traders eyed higher equity markets.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp.'s issue of 5% convertibles due 2032 recouped its Wednesday loss, trading up to about 106.5 on Thursday after shedding 2 points to 103 plus on Wednesday.

DryShips Inc.'s 5% convertibles due 2014 also regained ground, with prints at 99.5 after slipping 2 points to 98 on Wednesday.

Brighter economic data seemed to buoy these names in early trade.

The Commerce Department said that U.S. economic growth picked up to a 2.5% annual rate from April through June, compared to growth at 1.1% in the January to March period. The Labor Department said that unemployment benefit filings declined 5,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 305,000.

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