It's not exactly obvious how a company can monetise something it doesn't ever use. But Dish Network did just that with a US$3bn 10-year convertible bond underpinned by a part of its wireless broadcast spectrum. It was the largest convertible bond in the awards period, and one of only three to feature a 10-year tenor. The trade appeared to be the latest bit of wizardry from CEO Charlie Ergen, who defied expectations in the first place by touting satellite TV in the early 1990s. When others didn't believe, Ergen did, using cashflows and assets to back the debt used to roll out his satellite-based TV network.
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