Convertibles Calendar

Week of Oct. 31

QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC. (Symbol: Q): $1 billion 20-year senior convertible notes; plus $150 million greenshoe; to price after the close Wednesday; Goldman Sachs & Co. acting as bookrunner; price talk 3% to 3.5%, up 30% to 35%; non-callable for three years, puts in years five, 10 and 15; contingent conversion at 120%, and full dividend and change-of-control protection; proceeds to fund part of a tender for its 13% senior subordinated secured notes, its 13.5% senior subordinated secured notes and its 14% senior subordinated secured notes; remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes and potential future refinancing of debt; based in Denver, Qwest is a telecommunications services provider.

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CORP. (Symbol: CHK): $900 million in two concurrent convertible offerings, plus a senior note offering; to price Wednesday after the close; $600 million contingent convertibles plus $90 million over-allotment option; talked to yield 1.875% to 2.375%, up 35% to 40%; $500 million of cumulative convertible preferred shares plus over-allotment of $75 million; talked to yield 4.125% to 4.625%, up 35% to 40%; bookrunners Deutsche Bank Securities, which is the stabilization agent, plus Banc of America Securities LLC, Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank; proceeds from the two convertible offerings, together with proceeds from the concurrent offering of senior notes, to fund part of its previously announced acquisition of Columbia Natural Resources, LLC for $2.2 billion in cash; Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake is an oil and natural gas producer.

ON THE HORIZON

IPC HOLDINGS LTD. (Symbol: IPCR): 11 million series A mandatory convertible preferred shares; public offering; alongside sale of 12 million common shares with 1.2 million share greenshoe; Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley & Co. joint bookrunners; Pembroke, Bermuda, property catastrophe reinsurer will use proceeds to provide additional capital to its wholly owned subsidiary, IPCRe Ltd., and for other general corporate purposes.

NRG ENERGY INC. (Symbol: NRG) an issue of mandatory convertible preferreds expected to total $500 million, with concurrent offerings of $1 billion equity and $2.5 billion debt, to finance roughly $4 billion of its $5.8 billion acquisition of Texas Genco LLC; Texas Genco owners may also receive as much as $400 million preferred stock; Princeton, N.J.-based NRG has operations in the southeastern, western and northeastern states, while Texas Genco has operations in eastern Texas; the transaction is expected to close first-quarter 2006.

E*TRADE FINANCIAL CORP. (Symbol: ET) an issue of mandatory convertibles, expected to total roughly $450 million, with concurrent offerings of equity and senior notes, to finance its acquisition of BrownCo., the online brokerage service of JP Morgan Chase, for $1.6 billion cash; other financings include $150 million from its existing bank revolver; E*Trade is a New York-based online trading company that aims, with this and its pending acquisition of Harris Direct, to remain competitive with TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, though it ranks third both in terms of daily average revenue trades and client assets.

DRS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (Symbol: DRS) $250 million of senior subordinated convertible notes; as part of a mix of borrowings to help fund its acquisition of Engineered Support Systems Inc. (ESSI); the other financings include $124.7 million under a new revolving credit facility, $200 million from an expanded existing term loan and $700 million of new high-yield debt; DRS is a Parsippany, N.J.-based provider of technology products and services to defense, government intelligence and commercial customers. ESSI is a St. Louis-based diversified supplier of integrated military electronics, support equipment and technical services.

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