Apple Inc has again surprised the debt markets through the finalization of the largest non-bank bond deal in history. The bond offer is priced for a total of US$17 billion or GBP10.9 billion.
The move is to reassure restless shareholders of the liquidity of the company after the technology firm announced the first drop in quarterly earnings in ten years. The purpose of the bond issue is to raise funds for a program that would be returning US$100 billion to Apple shareholders.
According to sources, investors could barely submit orders quickly enough to become part of the deal with Apple. To date, this is the only major technology firm without any debt in its portfolio.
The six tranche all dollar offer has attracted over US$50 billion worth of orders by midmorning in New York. This is a very high level of demand even in this red-hot climate of bond issues.
In Thomson Reuters/IFR data, this US$17 billion deal easily surpasses the last largest deal, the US$14.7 billion spin off of AbbVIE from Abbot Laboratories.
Join the Conversation