Apple issues $7B U.S. bond to fund stock buybacks, corporate initiatives

The joint book running managers for this bond sale listed in the SEC filing are Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities, and Merrill Lynch. Bank of America is not participating in any way with this offering, but was listed as a fund manager during the last sale.

Other issuers are Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Standard Chartered, Wells Fargo, Lebenthal & Co., Loop Capital Markets, Mischler Financial Group, and The Williams Capital Group.

The sale is said to be three-times over subscribed, and will happen in five parts. Two notes mature in 2019 and are worth $1.5 billion combined, with $1.25 billion maturing in 2021, $2.25 billion maturing in 2026, and $2 billion concluding in 2046.

The last US offer was a $12 billion effort in February 2016, with a "Green bond" issue for $1.5 billion to finance clean energy projects. The last international sale was in Taiwan, and generated $1.38 billion in 30-year bonds, 40 percent more than originally expected.

Bond sales in 2015 generated $8 billion for Apple. In April 2016, the company claimed that the capital return program funded in part by the bond sales, has returned more than $163 billion to investors since its activation in August 2012. Share repurchases accounted for $117 billion of the $163 billion.

Apple plans on spending $58 billion in the span of the next two years on stock buyback programs, financed in part by these bond sales.