, Columnist
AT&T’s ‘Debt Towers’ Flatten With the Yield Curve
The largest nonfinancial corporate borrower picks a great time to extend its bond maturities.
No trouble with the curve.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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AT&T Inc. is once again ahead of the yield curve.
The world’s largest nonfinancial borrower, with about $169 billion of debt, is back in the corporate bond market looking to swap out some of its outstanding high-interest securities with cheaper longer-term obligations. Specifically, proceeds will fund a tender offer for 21 series of debt maturing through 2025, including some that carry interest rates as high as 7.85%. Obviously, its yields are nowhere near that level now, so refinancing is something of a no-brainer for the company to hold firm to its pledge to slim down.