According to the Sydney Herald,
The bonds were in two tranches with the first a four year bond issue of A$ 1.1 billion yielding 2.88% and the second a seven year bond of A$ 1.15 billion with a 3.71% yield.
Apple has raised about $50 billion dollars in the debt markets around the world pricing their debt offerings in Japanese yen, Swiss francs, the British pound and now the Australian dollar in addition to the US dollar and the Euro.
Apple is taking advantage of the low interest environment across the globe and smartly locking in these low rates to fund its buyback, dividend program, working capital and maybe even an acquisition that would make sense, if we are lucky. Moreover given the draconian repatriation laws that we have here at home, raising money overseas via debt issuance is a smart thing as the interest paid on that debt will help offset the income earned in those countries, thus lowering Apple's tax rate.
In addition, a German quarterly magazine, Deutsche Unternehmerboerse, published on Friday. is quoting the CEO of
"Google and Apple want to provide system software for cars and bring this entire ecosystem around Apple and Google into the vehicle," Zetsche said. "That can be interesting for both sides."
Far better for Apple or Google to provide the system software than become an auto company in my opinion. However, that is for another article altogether.
(please note I am long Apple and Google, apple puts and calls)
