Obbligazioni societarie Microsoft sul mercato del debito per la prima volta nella sua storia

[Imark]

Probabile quello che dice Mark. Qualcosa di grosso bolle in pentola.

Magari Yahoo... l'anno scorso li hanno presi a pesci in faccia per poi pentirsene amaramente (ed il CEO è stato defenestrato), potrebbero decidere di andare per le spicce

di affari buoni (escluso GM, non si potrebbero nemmeno valorizzare i NOLs... ) ce ne sono in giro, viste le quotazioni odierne di tante ditte, e Microsoft resta una azienda che ha perso diversi "treni" sul web, e necessita di prendere posizione e crescere per vie esterne... in questi casi, se quotate, è un bel terno al lotto individuare le potenziali promesse spose...

Dal punto di vista di chi acquista le obbligazioni, beh, dai i tuoi soldi a chi non ti dice che se ne vuol fare, in realtà... ed anch'io non vedo più i monopoli Microsoft (sistemi operativi, Office, etc.) così sicuri per il futuro... alla fola del costruire data center non credo, non servono tutti quei soldi... e se nessuno viene sul tuo sito non serve una grande infrastruttura... se compri Yahoo, ce l'ha già, con contratti pluriennali con penali altissime se cerchi di razionalizzare (azioni che richiedono anni...)...

>>Microsoft is taking advantage of its top credit rating to help fund a $40-billion share repurchase program, as well as build data centers to help narrow the gap with Internet search leader Google Inc. Microsoft has also said it wants to amass cash as a weak economy provides opportunities to acquire small and midsize companies.

Pensavo anch'io: certo che se dici che raccogli soldi per una maxiacquisizione, e non l'hai ancora definita per bene, ti esponi a rischi seri... allora intanto raccogli i soldi visto che il mercato dei capitali oggi è ricettivo e domani non si sa... cmq vedremo...

 

[Researcher]

Pensavo anch'io: certo che se dici che raccogli soldi per una maxiacquisizione, e non l'hai ancora definita per bene, ti esponi a rischi seri... allora intanto raccogli i soldi visto che il mercato dei capitali oggi è ricettivo e domani non si sa... cmq vedremo...

Cmq, ragazzi, si tratta pur sempre di una "cifretta": con 3,75 billion che ci compri di veramente "grosso"? E poi c'hanno già un monte di liquidità già disponibile......boh, forse è veramente solo per sfruttare le condizioni favorevoli di mercato, riacquistare un po' di azioni e parare un po' di utili....cmq, da vedere

 

[paologorgo]

spesuccia, ma è pocket money:

Report: Microsoft to Buy Chicago Site for $185M

It looks like Microsoft will buy its Chicago data center facility from the developers. Crain’s is reporting that Microsoft will pay $185 million to acquire the property from Ascent Corp and the Koman Group. The company will say only that it “doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation.”
The massive Chicago facility is the cornerstone of Microsoft’s plans to build an enormous cloud computing infrastructure with servers housed in 40-foot shipping containers. The company plans to house up to 400,000 servers in the enormous data center to power its Live suite of online services.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/...eport-microsoft-to-buy-chicago-site-for-185m/

 

[Imark]

Per chi volesse dare un'occhiata più da vicino. Anche Fitch sposa la tesi del debito destinato a finanziare buyback, dividendi ecc. Il cash Microsoft (o gli strumenti cash equivalent ed investimenti short term) sono soprattutto all'estero, mentre i flussi di cassa originati sul mercato domestico sono stati utilizzati fino ad oggi per queste attività di buyback ecc.


Fitch Rates Microsoft's Proposed $3.75BN Notes 'AA+'; Outlook Stable

11 May 2009 3:52 PM (EDT)

Fitch Ratings-New York-11 May 2009: Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'AA+' rating to Microsoft Corp.'s (Microsoft) proposed offering of $3.75 billion senior unsecured notes consisting of five-year, 10-year and 30-year notes. The proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including funding for working capital, capital expenditures, share buybacks and potential future acquisitions.

Fitch currently rates Microsoft as follows:
--Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) 'AA+';
--Senior unsecured revolving credit facility (RCF) 'AA+';
--Senior unsecured debt 'AA+';
--Short-Term IDR 'F-1+''
--Commercial Paper (CP) Program 'F-1+'.
The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The ratings and Stable Outlook incorporate Fitch's current expectations that Microsoft's debt balance will increase over time, as the company replenishes U.S.-based cash balances in order to continue funding stock repurchases, cash dividends and acquisitions without repatriating offshore cash subject to incremental taxes.

Microsoft's total liquidity is strong (see below), and the company has historically relied largely on its substantial free cash flow to fund share repurchases, cash dividends and modest acquisition activity. However, similar to other large technology companies with significant international operations, a substantial portion of Microsoft's cash is generated overseas.

Fitch believes that international cash represents a considerable portion of total cash due to continued funding of share repurchases and dividends with U.S.-based cash. Fitch believes the company has financial flexibility to issue significantly more debt over the intermediate term, particularly to deal with cash location issues, as the company maintains its net cash position. On March 31, 2008, total debt was $2 billion, consisting solely of CP borrowings. Microsoft has current Board authorization to issue up to $6 billion of total debt, although Fitch believes this is likely to increase over time.

As of March 31, 2009, Microsoft's total liquidity was strong at $25.3 billion of cash and investments, consisting of approximately $7.3 billion of cash and cash equivalents, and $18.1 billion of short-term investments, which are invested in highly liquid, fixed-income securities.

The company also has $4.1 billion of long-term investments, consisting of primarily public and highly liquid equity securities.

Liquidity is further supported by Microsoft's industry-leading annual free cash flow of approximately $12 billion-$14 billion, a $2 billion RCF maturing in November 2009 that serves as a back-up to the CP program, and an additional $1 billion RCF maturing in March 2010.

Fitch gains further confidence in Microsoft's liquidity profile from the company's historical practice of maintaining a significant net cash position.

Fitch anticipates that free cash flow will continue to be utilized primarily for share repurchases and acquisitions. Microsoft spent $9.3 billion of cash on share repurchases in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, although there was no repurchase activity in third quarter-2009 (3Q'09). There is approximately $34.5 billion remaining under the company's $40 billion share repurchase program, which expires on Sept. 30, 2013.

The ratings and Outlook are supported by Microsoft's:
--Leading market share in all of its core software segments;
--Superior balance sheet with exceptional financial flexibility, particularly for acquisitions;
--Industry-leading liquidity supported by a considerable cash position and consistent free cash flow;
--Unparalleled financial performance and operating profile, complemented by a sizable recurring revenue base. Although Microsoft's recent results have shown that the company is not immune to the current macroeconomic challenges, particularly in its historically strong emerging markets, Fitch believes there are no near-term competitive or financial risks to the ratings.

Nonetheless, longer-term rating concerns consist of:
--New software models that could challenge Microsoft's highly profitable license model, including open-source software, software as a service (SaaS) or advertising-supported software;
--Gross margin pressures attributable to investments in emerging markets subject to lower average selling prices (ASP);
--Substantially lower operating margins for the two non-software business segments, which represent approximately 20% of total revenues;
--Further legal and/or regulatory actions that could impede the company's course of business.

Fitch expects international growth and the ongoing expansion into adjacent businesses will continue to pressure Microsoft's margins, but are unlikely to materially affect the company's free cash flow.