Apple starts selling four-part bonds to fund buybacks, dividends

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has started selling four parts bonds, with the longest portion of the offering, a 40-year security, which may yield around 150 basis points over US Treasuries, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The Cupertino giant is tapping the high-grade bond market to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including financing the share buybacks and dividends, the report said.

The sale comes after the US market for investment-grade bonds sprang back in the second half of July amid a credit market rally. Many of the big banks brought large debt sales after reporting earnings, helping supply beat expectations for the month.

Although Apple is currently sitting on around $180 billion cash and cash equivalents stockpile, it has paid out around $14 billion in dividends each of the last three years.