Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest soft- drink maker, is planning to sell bonds in euros, the latest U.S. company seeking the record-low borrowing costs available in Europe.

The company is planning to sell debt in the shared currency with maturities ranging from two years to 20 years, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

Coke joins American firms including Oreo maker Mondelez International Inc. in raising funds in Europe as central bank stimulus drives down benchmark rates relative to the U.S., where policy makers are withdrawing support. U.S. borrowers have sold 18.85 billion euros ($21.4 billion) of debt this year, the most for the period since 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Officials at Atlanta-based Coca-Cola couldn’t immediately be reached outside office hours. Press officials based in London couldn’t immediately comment on the bond sale when contacted by phone.

On offer are two-year notes as well as 4 1/2-year, eight- year, 12-year and 20-year bonds, the person said. Some of the proceeds from the deal will fund repayment and redemption of the company’s outstanding notes, according to the person.

The deal is being arranged by Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley, according to the person.

The cost to U.S. companies of swapping the proceeds from euro sales back into dollars has more than halved since the height of the euro-area debt crisis.

The price of converting the funds using the five-year cross-currency basis swap is 0.32 percentage point below the euro interbank offered rate, from a peak 0.67 percentage point in 2012. Even so, it has risen from 0.15 percentage point at the start of the year.