Definitions -- Why firms issue convertible debt — Market timing and investor rationing -- A note on systematic risk changes around convertible debt issues -- The concurrent offerings puzzle -- Divestment of equity stakes — An analysis of exchangeable debt -- Conclusions and outlook.

During recent years, an increasing number of corporations have decided to raise external capital via markets for hybrid securities. Hybrid securities share characteristics of common stock and straight debt and appear in different forms, such as convertible debt, mandatory convertibles or exchangeable debt. Benjamin Kleidt analyzes why firms decide to issue hybrid securities. Applying state-of-the-art event study analyses to recent data, he provides interesting insights into the financing behaviour of issuing firms with regard to operating and stock price performance prior and subsequent to hybrid security issues. It turns out that issuance motives for the use of different forms of hybrid securities are as diverse as available structures for this asset class.