Vendor-financing paper for Leap Wireless International rose another three points last week to trade as high as the 98-99 context, according to traders. The paper has been climbing up toward par as investors pursue the equity distribution that vendor-financing holders are expected to receive as a part of the company's reorganization plan. Vendor-financing claims will be satisfied with 961/2% of the equity in a newly restructured Leap.
Leap's vendor-financing paper has staged a comeback over the past year-and-a-half. At one point, the paper was changing hands in the 17-18 range. At that time, the name was trading out of original holders, which included Ericsson, Nortel Networks, Qualcomm and Lucent Technologies, and into distressed debt shops.
Leap filed for bankruptcy in April 2003 and received confirmation for its plan of reorganization last October. The company only needs to receive approval from the Federal Communications Commission for the transfer of wireless licenses before emerging from bankruptcy. A Leap spokeswoman declined comment.