Microsoft May Use Its New $8B War Chest For Buybacks

On December 3, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) made a dual-currency debt offering comprising of $3.25B in US dollar bonds and 3.5B in euro bonds. At an aggregate value of $8B, this was the largest such issue made after November 2001, when AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) issued bonds worth $10.1B.

According to a filing, the company plans to use the proceeds for “general corporate purposes.”

Potential utilization

That is a pretty wide-ranging term, but Bernstein Research analysts Mark L. Moerdler and Emily Chan, in their analysis dated December 10, narrow down Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s likely motives for the debt issue...