Time Warner Plans $1B Debt Sale

The company says the cash will go toward the catch-all “general corporate purposes” and will come from two transactions. Time Warner will raise $500M from notes due in 2023 that pay 4.05% in interest, and another $500M from debentures due in 2043 that pay 5.35%. Moody’s Investors Service rates them Baa2, indicating that they’re safe with just a moderate degree of risk. “We believe that Time Warner is taking advantage of the low but rising interest rate environment,” Moody’s says. “The company has no public debt maturities in 2014 and $1 billion maturing in 2015.” Fitch Ratings offers a similar rating, BBB+, saying that the borrowing  “enables Time Warner to moderately de-risk its business profile while increasing strategic focus on its Networks, and Film and TV Entertainment segments.” Time Warner had about $17.6B in net debt at the end of September.