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U.S and Trans-Border Securities Regulation

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PIPE—Private Investment in<br />

Public Equities (cont’d)<br />

Watch for “toxic convertibles” or “death spirals”!<br />

If a PIPE deal is not structured properly, an issuer may throw the<br />

issuer’s stock into an irreversible “death spiral.”<br />

For example, a small percentage of structured PIPEs involve<br />

convertible securities with floorless reset conversion features.<br />

The floorless price reset features create an incentive for<br />

investors of toxic convertibles to short-sell the stock, driving<br />

the stock price down <strong>and</strong> allowing them to obtain more shares<br />

upon conversion of the toxic convertibles. These potential<br />

issuances of additional shares cause further downward<br />

pressure on stock price, throwing the issuer’s stock into a tailspin.<br />

(c) 2013 Michael K. Krebs<br />

All Rights Reserved<br />

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