Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Danone is selling 1.3 billion euros ($1.54 billion) of bonds as the French food company joins Daimler AG in opening Europe’s corporate bond market in 2015.

The world’s biggest yogurt maker is planning to issue 750 million euros of 10-year bonds and 550 million euros of floating-rate notes maturing in five years, according to a person familiar with the sale, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly. Daimler, the third-largest maker of luxury vehicles, is selling two-year securities in pounds, another person said.

The companies are taking advantage of record low borrowing costs in Europe, with the average yield on investment-grade bonds in euros falling to 1.1 percent, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Yields on pound notes dropped to an all-time low of 3.06 percent, the data show.

Officials at Danone in Paris couldn’t be reached for comment on the bond sale while a spokesman at Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Non-financial investment-grade companies will issue 200 billion euros of bonds this year, according to forecasts by UBS Group AG.