A condition that allows a bondholder to resell a bond back to the issuer at a price - which is generally par - on certain stipulated dates prior to maturity. The put provision is an added degree of security for the bondholder, since it establishes a floor price for the bond. This mitigates the risk of a decline in the bond price in the event of adverse developments such as rising interest rates or a deterioration in the credit quality of the bond issuer.
|||Since a put provision gives the bondholder the right but not the obligation to sell or "put" the bond to the issuer, it is akin to the sale of a put option by the bond issuer to the bondholder. As a result, a bond with a put provision will generally be priced higher than a comparable bond without a put provision.
