Sierra Pacific swaps shares for debt

Sierra Pacific Resources agreed to swap 1,295,211 of its common shares for $8.75 million of debt late last month.

That valued Sierra Pacific shares at $6.75 each.

The shares traded last week at about $5.

The Reno-based utility didn't identify the two holders of its debt who agreed to take stock in exchange.

The floating rate notes would have come due on April 20.

Sierra Pacific said it would issue new shares to cover the transaction.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sierra Pacific didn't rule out the possibility that it would undertake similar transactions in the future to help reduce its debt load.