Liberty Media deal on tap; Cobalt stays busy; Akamai at a premium; Tesla holds its ground

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Aug. 11 – Another large new issue was added to the convertibles calendar on Thursday as Liberty Media Corp. said it planned to privately place $425 million of senior debentures exchangeable for Time Warner Inc. stock.

Price talk on the Rule 144A deal is 2% to 2.5%, a market source reported. The initial exchange premium is expected to be 27.5% to 32.5%.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is the bookrunner.

A trader said he had not heard much on the deal.

Among established issues, a trader said Cobalt International Energy Inc.’s 2.625% convertible notes due 2019 continued to trade on the active side, though they remained “under 40.”

However, later in the day the paper was seen pushing up to north of 40.

While the convertibles improved a touch, the stock underlying the debt fell 2 cents to 84 cents.

Meanwhile, Akamai Technologies Inc.’s 0% convertible notes due 2019 were busy, a trader said.

However, there was no fresh news to act as a catalyst.

The trader also expressed surprise at how high a premium the notes were trading at. At either side of 97.5, that equaled a nearly 70% premium, he said.

Another active name was Tesla Motors Inc.

A trader pegged the 1.25% convertible notes due 21 at 86.625 bid, 86.875 offered. Another market source saw the issue trade as high as 87, though most of the trades occurred just south of there.

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