Online retailer Amazon has issued about $3bn of debt in its first bond offering in about ten years. The company is looking to raise money to expand its operations as well as take advantage of the low interest rate.
The company will use the money to finance the purchase of its headquarters in Seattle for $1.16bn and use part of the money for general corporate purposes.
The firm, which has no bonds outstanding, has sold about $750m of 0.65% three-year notes, $1bn of 1.2% five-year debt and $1.25bn of 2.5% securities that will mature in 10 years.
In addition to a new headquarters, Amazon is also investing in its new Kindle tablet computers, and new warehouses and data centres in a bid to expand its businesses, which range from high fashion to cloud computing.
The investments of the firm, which last sold $681m of bonds in 2000, added to an operating loss of $28m during the quarter ending September 2012.
During the Thanksgiving weekend, the online retailer topped the list with highest online sales and has received the highest numbers of visitors on Black Friday.
