Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has issued fixed rate notes worth $7 billion with different maturity durations as part of its plan to raise funds for its shareholder reward program worth $300 billion.
The iPhone maker issued the notes with maturity periods ranging from 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years and 30 years. CreditSights revealed that there is a 10-year tranche pricing which will be at 72 basis points over equivalent treasurys or roughly 10 basis points as part of the new issue concession. Apple sold corporate bonds worth $5 billion in September this year and they were characterized by a tranche pricing of 10 years with 85 basis points over treasurys.
“We would participate in the new issues as long as there are still some NICs at launch (i.e. if the 10-year prices at Treasurys plus 65 basis points or wider),” stated Jordan Chalfin.
Apple plans to use the proceeds from the note issue for general corporate purposes such as dividend payments and share buybacks. The software and tech giant regularly borrows from the corporate bond market so that it can reward its shareholders instead of repatriating part of its $252.3 billion cash which the company holds abroad. Apple’s CFO Luca Maestri revealed about a week ago that the cash parked abroad would be subjected to a tax rate of 35 percent if it were to be retrieved back into the U.S.
It thus makes more sense for the company to issue notes in order to gain quick access to cash that can be used for its corporate purposes. The company has been quite active in the debt market, not surprising considering the ultra low interest rate environment. It has been using bond sales all over the world to bankroll various programs. Apple has so far reported impressive fourth-quarter performance especially owing to the strong demand for the iPhone X. Chalfin thus believes that now is the ideal time for the company to issue the notes.
Apple stock closed the latest trading session on Tuesday at $171.34 after tanking by 1.51% from the previous close.