Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) began today to prepare for the bond issue it plans to use to consummate its $12.2 billion offer for CareFusion (NYSE:CFN).
The preliminary SEC filing for the offering doesn’t detail its total amount or a breakdown on interest rates or amounts for the 5 sets of senior unsecured notes planned for the flotation, but BD has said it expects to take on about $7.7 billion in debt for the CareFusion deal.
BD said last month that it would use more cash and less debt to help fund the buyout, 1st announced in early October. The terms of the deal call for each share of CFN stock to bring $49 in cash and 77.7% of a share of BDX stock, for roughly $10.1 billion in cash and about $21 billion in stock, based on BD’s $115.84 Oct. 3 closing price.
The Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based company said it plans to issue a set of floating-rate notes due in December 2016 and another series of 4 sets due in December of 2017, 2019, 2024 and 2044.
The proposed, $12.2 billion merger passed the waiting period mandated by U.S. anti-trust laws in November.
The pending flotation by BD comes on the heels of the year’s largest bond offering, a $17 billion package Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) plans to use to fund its mega-merger with Covidien (NYSE:COV).
