Apple borrows US$7b even as tax laws may fill cash coffers

New York

APPLE Inc, looking to fund stock buybacks and dividends, sold US$7 billion of bonds even as proposed new tax laws may leave it awash in cash it previously couldn't use. The iPhone maker on Monday sold notes in six parts. Apple has been the second-most active US non-financial issuer of debt this year behind AT&T Inc, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Its bond sale comes shortly after US House Republicans unveiled their proposal for overhauling US tax law, which would charge companies up to a 12 per cent tax on the overseas profit they've earned, compared with the 35 per cent they would pay if they brought that money back home now.