Apple Sell $5b of Debt, Fund Share Buybacks & Dividends Ahead Of iPhone Launch

Apple has once again offloaded bonds to pay for share buybacks and dividends. The Californian-based company is currently about 3/4 of the way through a program, which will return $300 billion of capital to shareholders by March 2019.

It is the seventh time Apple has sold debt this year.

The company has offered $5 billion in debt, made up of four parts, after reportedly dropping a two-year floating rate component.

Sources state a 30-year security (the lengthiest portion of the sale) will yield 1.1 percentage points above Treasuries, which is said to be down from initial talk of around 1.25 percentage points.

Apple announced a regular quarterly dividend of 63 cents per share last month.

The company reportedly held $261.5 billion of cash at the start of July, and 94% of this was held outside the United States – this was affirmed by Apple Chief Executive Officer, Luca Maestri.

Interestingly, the bond sale comes just ahead of Apple’s plans to unveil the newest suite of iPhone models at a launch event in their new campus.

iPhone sales contribute to about two-thirds of Apple’s product sales and are heralded the company’s biggest product.