Comcast sells US$27b of bonds

PHILADELPHIA: Comcast Corp sold bonds to finance its US$39 billion (RM161.34 billion) acquisition of Sky Plc in one of the biggest corporate debt sales ever in the United States.

The cable giant sold US$27 billion of unsecured bonds in 12 parts. The longest portion of the offering, a 40-year security, yields 1.75 percentage points above Treasuries, less than an initially discussed range of between 1.95 and two percentage points, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Comcast was able to cut the cost on its sale as investors put in orders for about US$88 billion of the debt.

A deal of that size was likely to draw strong demand, said David Knutson, head of credit research for the Americas at Schroder Investment Management.

At US$27 billion, Comcast’s offering is the second-largest deal of the year behind CVS Health Corp’s US$40 billion issuance in March.

It’s the fourth-largest debt sale on record in the US after Verizon Communications Inc, AnheuserBusch InBev NV and CVS.