RE:Oh yee of little faithAnd here is another bottom line assessment from me. If you think these bonds are so egregiously expensive for ATH and its shareholders..... BUY THEM! Go ahead. I'll bet you can't or won't because the minimum is probably $10k but please post here if you find a broker that will sell to mere retail investors like us. Even if it's $100k.
Maxmoe wrote: Yes ATH is a high torque call on oil. Yes it has a big debt issue coming due fast. Yes, nobody would lend them money at typical commercial terms 5 years ago. That's why the current debt is $USD bonds that trade on a 3rd tier german exchange or by appointment only on private exchanges in North America. I know because I frantically, angrily tried to buy the bonds at 18 all the way to 40 and settled on just buying more stock November 4th at 11 cents. So nobody will offer traditional commercial debt to ATH this year either. No surprise. Owning debt in ATH, a high torque producer which proved how vulnerable it is to low oil prices, is akin to making an equity bet in terms of risk. So debt investors can demand whatever they want to compensate for the "equity like" risk they are taking on. Why not ask for some equity sweetener? It's not at all uncommon. I've not seen a lot of cashless warrants, but it's very common to see warrants attached to a debt issue. Why cashless? Because ATH does not the 94 cents in cash from the warrant exercise. Now or ever. For the debt buyers, they are indifferent. Cashless or not they get a piece of upside above the exercise price. They aren't "gifted" a piece of the company but rather than exercise at 94 warrants and sell the stock, the company is effectively creating the market for the exercise and sale and buyback of the newly issued shares all in one "simple" step. The message from ATH is "we don't need any cash", "we have surplus cash".