Columbia Pipeline Group is being pursued as a buyout target by TransCanada for $10 billion (see Rumor Comes True: TransCanada Buying Columbia Pipeline for C$13B). We don’t know if the proposed merger is the reason, but yesterday Columbia announced they want to swap IOUs, or “unsecured notes” worth $2.75 billion for new notes. Why? If you figure it out tell us, please! The old notes are “unregistered” and the new notes will be “registered”. Does that make them more valuable? Does it mean the noteholders get more favorable treatment in the unlikely event of a bankruptcy? No idea. Here’s the rather short statement from Columbia about swapping notes…
