Death Spiral (redirected from Floorless Convertibles)

Death Spiral

A loan that investors give to a publicly-traded company in exchange for convertible bonds. The convertible bonds give the investor a right to buy shares in the company at a low, agreed-upon price. However, issuing these bonds creates more shares outstanding when they are converted, which results in a drop in the share price. The low share price encourages more bondholders to convert their bonds to equity, which causes a further drop in price and the process continues. Because of this disadvantage, companies only engage in death spirals if they badly need cash.

---

death spiral

The deteriorating financial condition and associated stock price of a cash-starved company that can raise capital only under the most onerous of terms. Restrictions and high interest charges on new capital cause the company to end up in an even worse financial position.