HP plans bond sale for autonomy purchase

Hewlett-Packard plans to sell $4.5 billion (Dh16.5 billion) of bonds with yields hovering at about record lows to help pay for the proposed acquisition of Autonomy Corp. The world's largest maker of personal computers may sell the debt in five parts with maturities from three to 30 years, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction who declined to be identified because terms aren't set. The company extended a deadline for search software company Autonomy's shareholders to agree to the sale, Hewlett-Packard said yesterday in a regulatory filing. Sales of corporate bonds are rebounding, after falling in August to the lowest since May 2010, as investors gain confidence that companies can survive a slowing US economy and Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Yields on investment-grade corporate debt averaged 3.7 per cent on Tuesday and touched 3.45 per cent, the lowest in data extending to October 1986, on August 4, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch US Corporate Master Index. Hewlett-Packard last sold bonds on May 25, when it issued $5 billion of notes in its largest-ever debt offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company is marketing the securities after the cost to protect its bonds from losses surged to the highest on record. Credit swaps Five-year credit-default swaps tied to the company's debt jumped about 38 basis points this month to 139.8 basis points, according to data provider CMA in London, which is owned by CME Group Inc and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market. The contracts have surged from 29 basis points in December.