2017.08.1523:51:00UTC+00Amazon Enters Bond Market to Finance Whole Foods Deal

The e-retail giant sold $3.5 billion 10-year corporate paper with a 0.9% yield premium to government bonds, lower than the 1.1 percentage point guidance benchmarked by underwriters earlier in the day, sources said. Amazon was received positively and gained from similarly favorable price movements across the other six maturities, varying from three-years to 40-years, according to sources.

As a whole, the sale is ranked as the fourth-biggest U.S. corporate bond agreement of the year, Dealogic said.

The strong demand may also be due to Moody's Investor Service's affirmation of Amazon's Baal rating. The ratings agency also shifted its outlook to positive from stable, stating that the gains from the Whole Foods acquisition overshadowed the additional debt being taken on to finance the deal.

This marks the fourth debt issuance since 1998 and the first since December 2014, according to Dealogic.