IBM (IBM.US) returned to the Canadian bond market after 14 years and issued 2.75 billion Canadian dollars

The Zhitong Finance App learned that IBM (IBM.US) issued a total of 2.75 billion Canadian dollars (about 1.97 billion US dollars) of bonds in the Canadian corporate bond market on Monday, and once again issued Canadian dollar-denominated corporate bonds after a lapse of 14 years. The deal comes at a time when overseas companies are rapidly entering the Canadian bond market. The amount of bonds issued by non-Canadian companies this year has reached a record high.

According to people familiar with the matter, the final pricing of the 8-year bonds issued by IBM this time was 120 basis points higher than the benchmark interest rate. The interest spread was slightly narrower than the initial discussion, indicating that market demand is relatively steady. The funds from this financing will be used for general corporate purposes.

According to relevant data, this is the first time in about 14 years that IBM has issued such Canadian corporate bonds. US tech giants, including Amazon (AMZN.US) and Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.US, GOOG.US), have all entered the Canadian bond market for financing. More and more large global companies are choosing to issue Canadian dollar bonds, and it is also changing the corporate bond market pattern dominated by local Canadian companies in the past.

For issuers, the Canadian bond market can not only provide additional financing channels, but also help diversify financing sources and currencies; at the same time, Canadian institutional investors also have more options for investing in Canadian dollar-denominated bonds from large global companies.

IBM's current sale of 2.75 billion Canadian dollars further continues this trend.

Since this year, the scale of bonds issued by foreign companies in the Canadian market has reached the highest level in history. Among them, large technology companies have become an important force driving market expansion.

The last time IBM entered the bond market for financing was in January of this year. The shift to the Canadian market to issue Canadian dollar bonds also reflects that large multinational companies are making more active use of capital markets in different regions to meet financing needs.

It is worth noting that the interest rate spread for the final issuance of the 8-year bond has narrowed compared to the initial level of discussion. Generally speaking, when other conditions remain the same, the final narrowing of interest spreads means that investors' subscription requirements allow the issuer to complete the transaction at a relatively lower financing premium.

As large US technology companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, and IBM enter the Canadian corporate bond market one after another, the presence of foreign issuers in the local bond market is further increasing.

At the time of this financing, IBM's own business performance is under some pressure.

Since this year, sales performance of the company's computer infrastructure and related software has been weak. At the same time, IBM has continued to shift its business focus to the software sector in recent years, but the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has also caused some investors to worry, and the company's existing software business may be impacted by a new round of technological change.

Affected by related concerns, IBM's stock price has fallen by a cumulative total of about 20% since this year, ranking third to last among the constituent stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Therefore, on the one hand, this bond issuance shows that IBM is still able to obtain large-scale financing from the Canadian corporate bond market. On the other hand, it also occurred at a time when the company's business transformation and competitive pressure on AI are receiving great attention from investors.

From a broader market perspective, IBM's launch is also the latest example of the 2026 global corporate financing boom. With the addition of technology giants such as Amazon and Alphabet, the Canadian bond market ushered in a record scale of overseas issuance this year, and the issuer structure of the Canadian dollar corporate bond market is becoming more international.