Analyzing Wealth Effects for Bondholders

The book examines the impact of firm events on bondholder wealth. First, the methodologies of papers that conduct bond event studies are reviewed. Second, the impact of synergy forecasts at M&A announcements on corporate debt and equity securities is investigated. Finally, regular debt offerings are compared to reopenings of corporate bonds.

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Despite the growing importance of funds through corporate bonds, most investigations on the short-term effects of certain events on firm value are only conducted for stocks. Thus, research provides an incomplete view on how firm value is truly affected. The author fills this gap and focuses his research on corporate debt. The first section of the book provides a comprehensive overview of existing methodologies to calculate abnormal bond returns. Subsequently, two frameworks are selected to investigate the importance of corporate debt when empirically assessing major corporate events: Synergy disclosure at M&A announcements and debt offerings through reopenings. Both provide evidence for the necessity to regard corporate debt to fully assess changes in firm value.