AppleOn Thursday, $6.5 billion worth of bonds were issued in the U. S. investment-grade bond market in four parts to raise money to return more cash to shareholders.

The longest maturity of these bonds is 40-year bonds, which will yield 0.92 percentage points higher than Treasuries, according to people familiar with the matter.

The funds will be used for general corporate purposes, including share buybacks, dividends, capital expenditures and acquisitions. S & P gave the bonds a "AA+" rating.

Apple Inc, the world's largest listed company, has recently been actively issuing bonds to take advantage of historically low borrowing costs. The company sold $14 billion worth of bonds in February. From 2017 to 2020, Apple Inc borrowed more than once in the US investment grade market in a calendar year. Now the company is selling its fourth tranche of bonds since May 2020.

Shareholder return is the focus of Apple Inc's attention. In recent years, the company has been reducing its huge cash reserves through hundreds of billions of dollars worth of share buybacks and dividends.