BHP latest miner to tap debt market with new $5bn bond
FTSE 100-listed miner BHP Billiton yesterday priced a $5bn (£3.1bn) bond and said it would use the proceeds for “general corporate purposes”.
The debt issuance is BHP’s largest in over a year and the firm’s first US debt sale since February 2012.
The new debt facility comprises $500m floating rate notes due 2016, $500m 2.050 per cent notes that mature in 2018, $1.5bn 3.85 per cent notes due 2023 and $2.5bn five per cent notes that mature in 2043.
Rival miner Glencore issued a €750m (£632m) bond last week and Rio Tinto issued a $3bn bond in June.
In BHP’s annual report that was released on Wednesday, the company warned that oversupply was undermining the global commodities markets and said it expected tapered demand for steel in Asia.