Apple bond sale to become six-part offering, filing reveals [u]
updated 12:03 pm EDT, Tue April 30, 2013
Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank confirmed as partners
(Updated with order book rumors, value of bonds) Apple's planned bond sale involves a six-part offering, according to a filing discovered by Bloomberg. Some floating-rate notes are set to mature in 2016 and 2018, while fixed-rate securities are due in 2016, 2018, 2023, and 2043. The filing confirms Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank as the institutions managing Apple's sale.
The amount of debt Apple intends to sell is still unclear, but it's estimated that it could be anywhere between $15 billion and $20 billion. The company needs the money to finance a plan to return $100 billion to shareholders by 2015, even though it has $145 billion in total cash reserves. The problem is that only $45 billion of that is situated in the US, and Apple has refused to repatriate the foreign cash unless it can get a "holiday" on the 35 percent tax it would normally owe. Apple and other corporations have attempted to pressure politicians into enacting a tax holiday.
Update: A Reuters source says Apple has already attracted an order book in excess of $40 billion. The person also suggests that the sale should get pricing later today.
Update 2: The Wall Street Journal says that Apple's bonds will be worth $17 billion. The figure represents the largest-ever dollar amount for an American corporate offering.
