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n1 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Apple is selling $10 billion of notes in its first trip to the bond market in six months, becoming the second cash-rich technology company to sell debt this week despite prospects of a U.S. repatriation-tax holiday.

The iPhone maker may sell debt in as many as nine parts with up to six different maturities, according to a regulatory filing. The longest portion may be a 30-year bond. Apple (AAPL) will use proceeds for general corporate purposes, which can include share buybacks and capital spending. Microsoft sold $17 billion of bonds earlier in the week, capping the busiest month for U.S. investment-grade corporate issuance ever.

Apple has become a bond market regular in recent years, selling debt at least annually since 2013. Though its debt load has grown, its $246 billion cash pile means the company can maintain credit ratings that are just one step below the top grade.

[...] The $1 billion, 30-year bond may yield about 1.15 percentage points more than Treasuries with similar maturities, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the deal is private. That's down from initial discussions of around 1.4 percentage points. Goldman Sachs (GS), Deutsche Bank (DB) and JPMorgan (JPM) are managing the sale.

Source: Investor's Business Daily [investors.com]

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