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Wirecard debt that facilitated SoftBank investment put up for auction

Published 07/02/2020, 05:23 PM
Updated 07/02/2020, 07:50 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Wirecard AG is pictured at its headquarters in Aschheim

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Wirecard AG is pictured at its headquarters in Aschheim

By Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON (Reuters) - Convertible bonds that were part of a complex transaction that allowed Japan's SoftBank Group (T:9984) to buy a stake in now-collapsed payments company Wirecard (DE:WDIG) and then de-risk the transaction have been put up for sale in an auction.

In a process managed by Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN), bonds convertible into Wirecard debt with a nominal value of 900 million euros ($1.01 billion) will be sold via an auction set to close on July 8, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Many of Wirecard's creditors are eager to sell their exposure to the now-insolvent company, as police have raided the German firm's offices and its administrator has started selling its assets.

The auction should end one of the most complex acquisition structures seen in recent times. Instead of buying a direct stake in Wirecard, SoftBank bought bonds that could be repaid with Wirecard shares.

Soon after, however, Credit Suisse sold 900 million euros of new bonds to investors linked to the convertible bond held by SoftBank, which would be convertible into Wirecard shares. This transaction effectively repackaged SoftBank's convertible bonds and sold them on at a profit for the Japanese investor.

The structure is one made famous by billionaire investor Warren Buffet, who used to buy stakes with little risk to his company Berkshire Hathway before benefiting immediately from the boost to the share price from his involvement.

The auction would likely represent a significant loss to investors currently holding the convertible bonds; the linked Argentum convertible bonds were trading at a cash price of 13.5 cents on the euro on Thursday, having been as high as 73.5 just three weeks ago.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Wirecard AG is pictured at its headquarters in Aschheim

(This story corrects stock symbol to Softbank (OTC:SFTBY) Group, not Softbank Corp, in paragraph one)

Latest comments

wirecard today for sure under 0.50 euros as everybody selling insiders promoters partners shareholders its a pathetic poor situation
Warren buffett did for buying his other investments earlier which are historically phenomenal deals dude and not wirecard purchaseWarren buffet goes for very high solid financial fundamentals companies only he won't buy wirecard for 0.25 euros also...he is very smart choosy selective
alright thanks for the info dude!
i wonder when warren buffet did that trade, because if this was recently the stock should go up right?
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