Convertible bonds vs. Bonds with detachable warrants

Convertible Bonds

A convertible bond is the same as the bond with warrants. The major difference between convertible bonds and warrants is that warrants can be separated into distinct securities but convertible bonds are not. Convertible bonds are the fixed income securities that would be converted into common stocks after a certain period of time. Therefore, the convertible bond gives the holder the right to exchange for its a given number of shares of common stock any time on or before the expiration date.

Convertible securities also give investors the right to exchange their bond or shares for common stock of the company. Each convertible security will give specifics on the number of shares you’ll receive upon conversion, as well as the expiration date by which the security must be converted. In some cases, conversion is mandatory, while other convertible securities leave the conversion decision at the discretion of the owner.

Warrants

Warrants are financial assets giving the holder the right but not obligation to buy shares of common stocks directly from the issuing authority at a fixed price for a given period of time. Each warrant specifies the number of shares of common stock a holder can purchase at the exercise price at the expiration date. Some features of warrants are the same as those of call options. From the viewpoint of the holders call options and warrants like the same. But still there exists a significant difference in contractual features of them. Say warrants have a long maturity period. Some warrants are the same as the perpetual having no expiration date at all. The basic difference between call options and warrants is that call options are issued by individuals and warrants are issued by the firms. When a warrant is exercised, a firm must issue new shares of stock. Each time a warrant is exercised, the number of shares outstanding increases. In case of a call, options are not necessary i.e., when a call option is exercised, there is no change in the number of shares outstanding. Warrants vs Convertible Bonds.

Warrants, on the other hand, typically don’t have any intrinsic value of their own. Unlike convertible securities, there’s no underlying bond or preferred shares that give the warrant owner any additional rights. The only value that the warrant has comes from its conversion feature.

Warrants resemble options in that they typically require investors to make an additional payment within a specified time frame in order to exercise the warrant and receive common stock in exchange. Warrants tend to have longer lifespans than ordinary options, with expiration dates as much as 10 years into the future being relatively common. Investors aren’t required to exercise warrants, but they’re worthless after they expire unexercised.

Both warrants and convertible securities have their place within the capital structure of a company. The investments have some things in common, but their differences also have maximum value to different sets of investors. Those who want maximum reward will prefer warrants, but those who want some protection from worst-case scenarios will gravitate toward convertible securities.

The major difference is that the equity option embedded in a convertible bond is not detachable from the convert, so that you have to value the bond and the embedded option together. If you want to make a direct comparison with a detachable warrant, you can think of the embedded option in a convertible bond as having a strike price equal to the value of the remaining cash flows of the convertible bond, so that the strike prices change over time as coupon payments are made, and changes with the level of both interest rates and the credit quality of the bond issuer.