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IT Home reported on October 29 that, according to Bloomberg, Microsoft plans to issue U.S. investment-grade bonds to raise at least $25 billion (IT Home note: approximately 167.013 billion yuan at current exchange rates). This would be the company's first such bond issuance in more than nine years. Like its peers, Microsoft is borrowing to fund large-scale investment in artificial intelligence.
People familiar with the matter said the size of the offering has not yet been finalized and could be adjusted according to market demand.
One of the people said the world's largest software company plans to divide the bond offering into as many as 10 maturities, ranging from 2 to 40 years.
The person added that the longest-dated bonds, due in 2066, have an initial pricing range of up to 1.35 percentage points above U.S. Treasury yields.
Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and UBS Group are underwriting the bond offering. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditure.
The bond offering ends a long hiatus in debt issuance for Microsoft. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Microsoft is one of only two publicly traded U.S. companies with the highest AAA ratings from both Moody's and S&P; the other is Johnson & Johnson. Microsoft's last issuance of high-grade bonds was in 2017, when it raised $17 billion (approximately 113.569 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in 7 tranches.
This is another major cloud provider issuing bonds since Alphabet issued $25 billion (approximately 167.013 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in bonds on August 6. Amid growing market concern that the AI industry's enormous spending is unsustainable, the offering will be an important test of whether investors are willing to fund AI investment.