Apple's Australia Bond Sale Hits a Record Breaking $3B

Apple's kangaroo bond blew past Australia's biggest bond sale to date topping AU$3 billion. The company took in $1.2 billion in orders for the bond sale during its first two hours, and didn't slow down.

Apple's Australia bond sale tops AU$3 billionApple's Australia bond sale tops AU$3 billion

Kangaroo bond is a term for foreign companies that sell bonds in Australia. Since Apple is based in the United States, it's bond sale in Australia earned the kangaroo moniker.

As of Friday morning, Apple's four-year fixed rate note bids were at $600 million, its four-year floating notes bids hit $1 billion, and the seven-year bonds were at $1.5 billion, according to Business Insider.

Apple plans to use the money it is raising in Australia, along with bond sales in other countries, for shareholder dividend payments, share buybacks, capital expenditure, working capital, acquisitions, and debt repayment. The company has over 200 billion, but bringing money earned outside of the U.S. into the country comes with such a hefty tax bill that it's far cheaper to take on debt instead.

Currently, Apple's bond sales have been issued in US dollars, euros, yen, and Swiss francs. Offering bond sales in multiple countries helps Apple protect itself against fluctuations in currency values.

Apple and the banks handling the bond sale—Commonwealth Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs—were expecting to raise between $500 million and $1 billion. Apple clearly didn't have any problems hitting those goals.