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BOSTON (AP) - IBM Corp. disclosed Tuesday that it is taking on $11.5 billion in new debt to finance the aggressive accelerations of its stock repurchase plan, which appears to be one of the largest such steps ever.
IBM had already announced that it would be ramping up its already massive stock buyback, and the technology company also had said it expected to borrow money to get it done. But a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the big scope of the project.
Like many other large companies, Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM is on a buyback binge. It has spent $80 billion on its own stock since 1995. By taking shares out of circulation, the move increases the company's earnings per share and gives IBM more shares it can dole out in stock options.
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