Yahoo! convertibles higher on swap; convertibles overall thinly traded after holiday

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, March 28 – Yahoo! Inc.’s convertibles improved in active trade on Monday as headlines swirled around the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company about potential investors in its core internet business, including Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft did not comment on whether it is contemplating a bid, but Reuters reported that the software giant has talked with private equity firms at their request about helping finance a deal.

Trading of Yahoo! convertibles was the most notable aspect of an otherwise thinly traded U.S. convertibles market on the day after Easter, market players said. Financial markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday.

The Yahoo! convertibles expanded about 0.25 point to 0.75 point, a New York-based trader said, even though “nothing really changed today” regarding the prospects for the internet company, which put itself on the auction block in February.

Social media company Pandora Media Inc. was also in the headlines after it announced management changes, including founder Tim Westergren taking the helm of the internet music company as chief executive officer effective immediately.

Pandora’s common shares subsequently plunged 12% presumably on the expectation that the management changes now preclude a potential takeout of the company, a trader said.

Pandora convertible bonds were mostly quiet, although the trades that did occur were lower by 5.5 points to 6 points on the day.

Elsewhere, investors were watching the energy space, which pared early losses but still ended lower on the day.

© 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.