Boeing Co. sold $3.5 billion of bonds Tuesday, providing the company with a liquidity boost as it faces at least $1 billion of costs related to the grounding and reduced production of its 737 Max airplanes.
Under heightened scrutiny in the wake of two fatal crashes, the aerospace giant issued bonds of five different maturities, proceeds from which will be used for general corporate purposes. The company on Monday also said it had entered into a $1.5 billion line of credit with three U.S. banks.
Despite Boeing’s BA, -0.36% challenges, the firm met with strong demand from investors, allowing it to increase the size of the sale by about $1 billion from initial estimates while reducing proposed interest rates on the debt.
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday maintained its A rating on the company’s debt, citing Boeing’s “position as one of the two global producers of large commercial jetliners and as one of the largest U.S. defense contractors.”
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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