Case Study:
Mark Sexton and Todd Story, the owners of a manufacturing company have decided to expand their operations. They instructed you as their newly hired financial analyst to enlist an underwriter to help sell $35 million in new 10-year bonds to finance construction. You have entered into discussion with Kim McKenzie, an underwriter from the firm of Raines and Warren about which bond features your company should consider and what coupon rate the issue will likely have.
Although your Bosses are aware of the bond features, they are not sure about the costs and benefits of some features especially how they will affect the coupon rate of the bond issues. This is more so that your firm is not a publicly traded company. You have been asked to prepare a memo on the effect of each of the following bond features on the coupon rate of the bond. It is expected that you will emphasis on their perceived benefits.
The bond issuer/the borrower/the bosses: Mark Sexton and Todd Story
Bond value: $35 million
Bond maturity: 10 years
Financing purpose: construction
Hired underwriter: Kim McKenzie (Raines and Warren)
.Case Studied Memos:
1. The security of the bond- that is, whether the bond has a collateral.
Secured bond is with collateral, whereby the issuer pledged specific assets in case of bankruptcy or unable to pay debt. A bond with collateral will have a lower coupon rate (interest/return) and lower the security’s risk but with higher credit ratings, which less likely it is to default. But the issuer need to ensure that the collateral is in good working order and cannot be sold until the bond is matured. Considering bond with collateral is secured investment to investors, during default, the investors may receive all or part of the collateral in the value of debt unpaid. Collateralized bond is also marketable to the secondary market especially if it is a non-publicly traded or listed company recognized