Discussion of 'Optimal Debt Service: Straight vs. Convertible Debt'

Schmalenbach Business Review, Vol. 58, April 2006

5 Pages Posted: 3 May 2006

See all articles by Gunther Friedl

Gunther Friedl

Technische Universität München (TUM) - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Abstract

Corporate bond default plays a signifi cant role in today's business environment. According to Moody's, a leading provider of credit ratings, corporate bond issuers that it rated as of January 1, 2004, defaulted on a total of US $16 billion in 2004. Credit default not only affects the equity investors of a firm, but also the debt holders, who may loose part of their credit. Default can also have dramatic consequences for a firm's future operations. Therefore, the decision of if and when to default is important for both the firm and its stakeholders.

There is a substantial body of literature on the determination of optimal default points as a strategic decision by the owners of a firm. According to this view, optimal default occurs when the continuation value of the firm, less the discounted value of all future tax-adjusted coupon payments, falls below zero. However, some studies on optimal default points are limited, since these studies usually assume a simple capital structure with only equity and straight debt.

Christian Koziol extends this literature by relaxing the assumption of a simple capital structure and by allowing for convertible debt. Th e main objectives of his paper are (i) to determine optimal default and conversion strategies, when debt is convertible; and (ii) to highlight the differences between this strategy and the strategy for straight debt. Since convertible debt plays a significant role in corporate finance decisions, Koziol's approach seems to be both important and of wide interest. To analyze these problems, the author uses a widely accepted time-independent model with a perpetual bond that pays a continual coupon in the presence of both bankruptcy costs and tax deductibility.

My discussion is organized as follows. In section 2, I relate Koziol's paper to previous literature and provide an intuitive explanation for the results. Section 3 discusses an application in the area of real option games.

Suggested Citation

Friedl, Gunther, Discussion of 'Optimal Debt Service: Straight vs. Convertible Debt'. Schmalenbach Business Review, Vol. 58, April 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=899299

Gunther Friedl (Contact Author)

Technische Universität München (TUM) - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Arcisstr. 21
Munich, D-80290
Germany
+49 89 28925800 (Phone)

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