LinkedIn slips on hedge; Aegerion down; Cobalt adds; Anthem to price $900 million deal

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, May 5 – LinkedIn Corp.’s 0.5% convertibles due 2019 were trading actively in the U.S. convertibles market on Tuesday, slipping on both an outright and dollar-neutral, or hedged, basis as market players looked to trim positions amid broader market weakness, trading sources said.

“It’s definitely weaker today. I can’t come up with any good reason for you except maybe there is speculation of new issuance coming down the pipeline and guys are selling ahead of that,” a New York-based trader said.

In fact, Anthem Inc. launched an offering of $900 million of mandatory convertibles after the market close that were seen pricing late Wednesday and were talked to yield 5.25% to 5.75% with an initial conversion premium of 25% to 30%.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s 2% convertible fell to about 85 from 89 amid a 7% drop in shares of the Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company to $21.74.

Aegerion, with a $621 million market capitalization, reported a quarterly loss, but excluding items, its profit beat estimates. For the year so far, Aegerion shares are up about 10%. But in the last 12 months they are down about 45%.

Cobalt International Energy Inc.’s sister convertible issues expanded about 0.5 point on a dollar-neutral basis with shares of the Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company off 3.5%. The company reported a quarterly loss that was 2 cents per share less than expected.

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