NEW YORK: Technology giant Apple confirmed yesterday that it sold $17bn in bonds in the biggest corporate debt issue ever.
The bond sale, described in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, broke the record of $16.5bn from Roche Holding in 2009.
The debt-free Apple offered six tranches of debt, four at fixed rates and two at floating rates with the maturity between three and 30 years. For the three-year bonds, Apple will pay a rate of 0.45 percent, which according to research firm Dealogic is the lowest coupon rate on record, tied with Texas Instruments, Unilever Capital and Walt Disney for comparable notes.
The bond maturities go up to 30 years, with a rate of 3.85 percent, according to the SEC documents. The company chose to issue debt to finance part of the $100bn in share buybacks and dividends it pledged to undertake through the end of 2015. AFP
