That $7bn Apple Bond ?6 Sep 2019 14:07
After the announcement of Apples $7 billion bond issue yesterday, I went to bed scratching my head as to why a company with over $50billion in cash sitting on its balance sheet together with tens of billions of securities also held is issuing a 30 year bond which is tiny in comparison to the market value of the company of $1000bn !
The company states that the issue was to finance 'share repurchases, dividend payments, capital expenditures, acquisitions and repayment of debt'. So the company is telling us that as there's 'only' $50bn in the bank and 'just' tens of billions in other securites, it needs to raise funds via a bond issue ?
This morning no news, nothing,no-one has blinked an eyelid which I thought was rather odd and not to mention yesterdays gains in ITV on just slightly above average volume.
And this morning very steady again as the price has been all week.
Now back to the bond issue (and I think you will all like this bit).
What if Apple approached Liberty to find out what the company's intentions were with regards to its interest in ITV, the whole world and his wife knows that content is king and media companies are ready to splash the cash ?
What if Liberty's intentions now no longer involve ITV and is looking to exit (as BskyB did previously, selling its ITV stake to Liberty) ?
We all know these US Banks are colluding amongst themselves, so what if over a few beers and burgers at one of the finest Platinum Lace outlets, Liberty have said that they have taken around 50p in total dividends over the last four years or so with their stake in ITV and now want $2.50 per share in ITV for a complete exit.
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it, but then in the same breath what if Liberty have said they don't want dollars for their stake but they want a medium to long bond arrangement in Apple as exchange, we all know the dollar is in for a very rough ride from hereon in !
Now as some of you may know that through Goldman Sachs, a near 30% interest in ITV has been recorded, no-one knows the exact nature of the holding apart from the 9.9% Liberty have disclosed to the SE. We all know Goldman are up to every trick in the book, so it wouldn't surpise anyone if they had more than a 30% interest in ITV on their books somewhere.
Now back to the Apple Bond, I mentioned that the figure of $7bn was tiny in comparison to the value of the company but what I also found rather strange was the figure of $7bn, not $5bn or $10bn, as in most issues, a nice round figure.
My final what if, what if the actual issue was $10bn worth of bonds, and $3bn was given to Liberty in exchange for their 30% interest in ITV, leaving the headline $7bn ?
And guess what , $10bn for itv would equate to $2.50 a share give or take.
(I'll get my coat !)
Sign In
Follow the stocks
