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Enron Corp. - University of California | Office of The President

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only entered to avoid recognition <strong>of</strong> a loss. Even so, the value <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enron</strong>'s investments was rapidly<br />

declining, so Talon's credit capacity was still in jeopardy.<br />

(ii) Raptors II and IV<br />

482. <strong>Enron</strong> and LJM2 established two more Raptors – known as Raptor II and Raptor IV<br />

– that were very similar to Raptor I. Both Raptors II and IV received only contingent contracts to<br />

obtain a specified number <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enron</strong> shares. <strong>The</strong>se Raptors were intended to, but did not, engage in<br />

valid derivative transactions with <strong>Enron</strong>.<br />

483. Just as it had done with Talon in Raptor I, <strong>Enron</strong> paid Raptor II's SPE, "Timberwolf,"<br />

and Raptor IV's SPE, "Bobcat," $41 million each for share-settled put options. 10 In this case, <strong>Enron</strong><br />

was using the put option merely as a way to funnel $41 million to LJM2 via Timberwolf and Bobcat.<br />

Just like Raptor I, the put options were settled early, and each <strong>of</strong> the entities then distributed<br />

approximately $41 million to LJM2. <strong>The</strong>se distributions meant that both Timberwolf and Bobcat<br />

were available to engage in derivative transactions with <strong>Enron</strong>.<br />

484. Just like Raptor I, <strong>Enron</strong> entered into costless collars on the <strong>Enron</strong> stock contracts in<br />

Timberwolf and Bobcat to provide credit capacity support to the Raptors. As in the case <strong>of</strong> Raptor<br />

I, this collaring was inconsistent with the premise on which the stock contracts had been discounted<br />

when they were originally transferred to Timberwolf and Bobcat. <strong>The</strong> collars, however, effectively<br />

lifted the restriction.<br />

(iii) Raptor III<br />

485. Raptor III was a variation <strong>of</strong> the other Raptor transactions, but with an important<br />

difference. It was intended to hedge a single large <strong>Enron</strong> investment in <strong>The</strong> New Power Company<br />

10 A put option grants, for a premium (the option price), the right to sell at a specified strike<br />

price a specific number <strong>of</strong> shares by a certain date, which protects the buyer from a decline in the<br />

stock price.<br />

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