By TED MANN
General Electric Co. (GE) is seeking to raise $3 billion in the
sale of new debt to stock its coffers when rates are low.
GE plans to sell $2.25 billion in 30-year notes and an
additional $750 million in 10-year bonds, a GE spokesman said. The
company didn't specify how it would use the proceeds other than for
general corporate purposes.
"Today's issuance is consistent with our strategy to be
opportunistic in accessing markets, particularly with interest
rates at relatively low levels," GE spokesman Seth Martin said.
The debt sale will give GE extra fire power to pay dividends,
buy back shares or pursue acquisitions. Last year, GE said it
returned $18.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and
buybacks. The company is also currently on a cost-cutting campaign
to reduce its expenses as a percentage of sales.
Last month, GE Chief Financial Officer Jeff Bornstein told
investors that raising new debt "makes all the sense in the world"
because of the low rate environment.
GE, which has a long-term AA+ rating from Standard & Poor's,
had $221.7 billion of long-term debt on its balance sheet as of the
end of December. Most of that--$210.3 billion--was held by its
financial-services arm.
GE, the parent company, last issued debt in October 2012, the
company said, when it sold $7 billion in long-term notes. Roughly
$5 billion of that was used to prefund debt that was maturing in
2013, the company said.
Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com
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