IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/eufman/v15y2009i3p563-583.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Do Western European Firms Issue Convertibles Instead of Straight Debt or Equity?

Author

Listed:
  • Marie Dutordoir
  • Linda Van de Gucht

Abstract

Unlike their US counterparts, European convertible debt issuers tend to be large companies with small debt†and equity†related financing costs. Therefore, it is puzzling why these firms issue convertibles instead of standard financing instruments. This paper examines European convertible debt issuer motivations by estimating a security choice model that incorporates convertibles, straight debt, and equity. We find that European convertibles are used as sweetened debt, not as delayed equity. This motivation is reflected in the debt†like design of most European convertible issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Dutordoir & Linda Van de Gucht, 2009. "Why Do Western European Firms Issue Convertibles Instead of Straight Debt or Equity?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 563-583, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:eufman:v:15:y:2009:i:3:p:563-583
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-036X.2007.00433.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-036X.2007.00433.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-036X.2007.00433.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Antonios Antoniou & Yilmaz Guney & Krishna Paudyal, 2006. "The Determinants of Debt Maturity Structure: Evidence from France, Germany and the UK," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(2), pages 161-194, March.
    4. Eugene F. Brigham, 1966. "An Analysis Of Convertible Debentures: Theory And Some Empirical Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 21(1), pages 35-54, March.
    5. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    6. Dirk Brounen & Abe de Jong & Kees Koedijk, 2004. "Corporate Finance in Europe: Confronting Theory with Practice," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(4), Winter.
    7. Brennan, Michael J & Kraus, Alan, 1987. "Efficient Financing under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(5), pages 1225-1243, December.
    8. M. Dutordoir & L. Van De Gucht, 2004. "Are European Convertibles More Debt-Like than the US Issues? An Empirical Analysis," Review of Business and Economic Literature, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Review of Business and Economic Literature, vol. 0(4), pages 533-568.
    9. Krasker, William S, 1986. "Stock Price Movements in Response to Stock Issues under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(1), pages 93-105, March.
    10. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    11. Choe, Hyuk & Masulis, Ronald W. & Nanda, Vikram, 1993. "Common stock offerings across the business cycle : Theory and evidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 3-31, June.
    12. Craig M. Lewis & Richard J. Rogalski & James K. Seward, 1999. "Is Convertible Debt a Substitute for Straight Debt or for Common Equity?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 28(3), Fall.
    13. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐de‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 1-33, February.
    14. Stein, Jeremy C., 1992. "Convertible bonds as backdoor equity financing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 3-21, August.
    15. Chang, Shao-Chi & Chen, Sheng-Syan & Liu, Yichen, 2004. "Why firms use convertibles: A further test of the sequential-financing hypothesis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 1163-1183, May.
    16. Franck Bancel & Usha R. Mittoo, 2004. "Cross-Country Determinants of Capital Structure Choice: A Survey of European Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(4), Winter.
    17. Bayless, Mark & Chaplinsky, Susan, 1996. "Is There a Window of Opportunity for Seasoned Equity Issuance?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 253-278, March.
    18. Ammann, Manuel & Kind, Axel & Wilde, Christian, 2003. "Are convertible bonds underpriced? An analysis of the French market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 635-653, April.
    19. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:1:p:391-405 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Lewis, Craig M. & Rogalski, Richard J. & Seward, James K., 2003. "Industry conditions, growth opportunities and market reactions to convertible debt financing decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 153-181, January.
    21. Randall S. Billingsley & Robert E. Lamy & G. Rodney Thompson, 1988. "The Choice Among Debt, Equity, And Convertible Bonds," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 11(1), pages 43-55, March.
    22. Burlacu, Radu, 2000. "New evidence on the pecking order hypothesis: the case of French convertible bonds," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(3-4), pages 439-459, December.
    23. Green, Richard C., 1984. "Investment incentives, debt, and warrants," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 115-136, March.
    24. Artis, Michael J & Zhang, W, 1997. "International Business Cycles and the ERM: Is There a European Business Cycle?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 2(1), pages 1-16, January.
    25. Ghosh, Chinmoy & Varma, Raj & Woolridge, J. Randall, 1990. "An analysis of exchangeable debt offers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1-2), pages 251-263.
    26. Abhyankar, Abhay & Dunning, Alison, 1999. "Wealth effects of convertible bond and convertible preference share issues: An empirical analysis of the UK market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(7), pages 1043-1065, July.
    27. Dutordoir, Marie & Van de Gucht, Linda, 2007. "Are there windows of opportunity for convertible debt issuance? Evidence for Western Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 2828-2846, September.
    28. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    29. Marsh, Paul, 1982. "The Choice between Equity and Debt: An Empirical Study," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 37(1), pages 121-144, March.
    30. Franck Bancel & Usha R. Mittoo, 2004. "Why Do European Firms Issue Convertible Debt?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 10(2), pages 339-373, June.
    31. Brounen, D. & de Jong, A. & Koedijk, C.G., 2004. "Corporate Finance In Europe Confronting Theory With Practice," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-002-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    32. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    33. Korkeamaki, Timo P., 2005. "Effects of law on corporate financing practices--international evidence from convertible bond issues," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(5), pages 809-831, October.
    34. Ammann, Manuel & Fehr, Martin & Seiz, Ralf, 2006. "New evidence on the announcement effect of convertible and exchangeable bonds," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 43-63, February.
    35. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Korajczyk, Robert A. & Levy, Amnon, 2003. "Capital structure choice: macroeconomic conditions and financial constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 75-109, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Burlacu, Radu & Jimenez-Garcès, Sonia, 2022. "Why do firms issue callable convertible bonds? A critique of the “backdoor equity financing” theory," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. Liang‐Chih Liu & Tian‐Shyr Dai & Lei Zhou & Hao‐Han Chang, 2022. "Analyzing interactive call, default, and conversion policies for corporate bonds," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(8), pages 1597-1638, August.
    3. Liao, Yulu & Huang, Paoyu & Ni, Yensen, 2022. "Convertible bond issuance volume, capital structure, and firm value," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    4. Pascal Barneto & Stéphane Ouvrard & Yves Rannou, 2019. "Les titres hybrides : de leur émission à leur classement comptable. Un enjeu de contrôle ?," Post-Print hal-02311469, HAL.
    5. Li, Xiaoyang & Lin, Shannon & Tucker, Alan L., 2016. "The curious case of converts," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-17.
    6. Dutordoir, Marie & Lewis, Craig & Seward, James & Veld, Chris, 2014. "What we do and do not know about convertible bond financing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 3-20.
    7. Adoukonou, Olivier & André, Florence & Viviani, Jean-Laurent, 2021. "The determinants of the convertible bonds call policy of Western European companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Angel Huerga & Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy, 2019. "Mandatory Convertible Bonds and the Agency Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-21, July.
    9. Li, Hui & Liu, Hong & Siganos, Antonios, 2016. "A comparison of the stock market reactions of convertible bond offerings between financial and non-financial institutions: Do they differ?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 356-366.
    10. Dutordoir, Marie & Strong, Norman & Ziegan, Marius C., 2014. "Does corporate governance influence convertible bond issuance?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 80-100.
    11. Dong, Ming & Dutordoir, Marie & Veld, Chris, 2019. "How can we improve inferences from surveys? A new look at the convertible debt questions from the Graham and Harvey survey data," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 213-222.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dutordoir, M.D.R.P. & Van de Gucht, L., 2006. "Why Do Western European Firms Issue Convertibles Instead of Straight Debt or Equity?," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-056-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    2. Dutordoir, Marie & Lewis, Craig & Seward, James & Veld, Chris, 2014. "What we do and do not know about convertible bond financing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 3-20.
    3. Dutordoir, M.D.R.P. & Van de Gucht, L., 2006. "Are There Windows of Opportunity for Convertible Debt Issuance? Evidence for Western Europe," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-055-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    4. Dutordoir, Marie & Van de Gucht, Linda, 2007. "Are there windows of opportunity for convertible debt issuance? Evidence for Western Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 2828-2846, September.
    5. Dutordoir, Marie & Strong, Norman & Ziegan, Marius C., 2014. "Does corporate governance influence convertible bond issuance?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 80-100.
    6. Ammann, Manuel & Fehr, Martin & Seiz, Ralf, 2006. "New evidence on the announcement effect of convertible and exchangeable bonds," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 43-63, February.
    7. Duca, Eric & Dutordoir, Marie & Veld, Chris & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2012. "Why are convertible bond announcements associated with increasingly negative issuer stock returns? An arbitrage-based explanation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2884-2899.
    8. Dutordoir, Marie & Li, Hui & Liu, Frank Hong & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2016. "Convertible bond announcement effects: Why is Japan different?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 76-92.
    9. Mohamed, Hisham Hanifa & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla I., 2015. "Why do issuers issue Sukuk or conventional bond? Evidence from Malaysian listed firms using partial adjustment models," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 233-252.
    10. Li, Hui & Liu, Hong & Siganos, Antonios, 2016. "A comparison of the stock market reactions of convertible bond offerings between financial and non-financial institutions: Do they differ?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 356-366.
    11. Hanifa, Mohamed Hisham & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla, 2014. "Testing Sukuk And Conventional Bond Offers Based On Corporate Financing Theories Using Partial Adjustment Models: Evidence From Malaysian Listed Firms," MPRA Paper 56953, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Florence Andre-Le Pogamp & Khalid El Badraoui, 2013. "Security Design of Callable Convertible Bonds and Issuers' External Financing Costs," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 56(1), pages 61-81.
    13. de Jong, Abe & Dutordoir, Marie & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2011. "Why do convertible issuers simultaneously repurchase stock? An arbitrage-based explanation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 113-129, April.
    14. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    15. Roland Gillet & Hubert De La Bruslerie, 2010. "The Consequences of Issuing Convertible Bonds: Dilution and/or Financial Restructuring?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 16(4), pages 552-584, September.
    16. Suchard, Jo-Ann, 2007. "The impact of rights issues of convertible debt in Australian markets," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 187-202, July.
    17. Eric Molay, 2005. "La structure financière du capital:tests empiriques sur le marché français," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 8(4), pages 153-175, December.
    18. Loncarski, I. & Ter Horst, J.R. & Veld, C.H., 2006. "Why do Companies issue Convertible Bond Loans? An Empirical Analysis for the Canadian Market," Discussion Paper 2006-65, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    19. Sze Kim Chin & Nur Adiana Hiau Abdullah, 2013. "Announcements Effect of Corporate Bond Issuance and Its Determinants," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 7(1), March.
    20. Öztekin, Özde & Flannery, Mark J., 2012. "Institutional determinants of capital structure adjustment speeds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 88-112.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:eufman:v:15:y:2009:i:3:p:563-583. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/efmaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.