Investors are queuing up to finance Dell Inc.'s $67 billionacquisition of EMC Corp., with the computer maker poised to boostits offering for what's likely to be the year's second-biggestcorporate bond sale.

The company had received more than $80 billion of orders frominvestors by the time its bankers closed the books on Tuesday,according to people familiar with the transaction who asked not tobe identified because they aren't authorized to speak publicly.Dell had initially planned to raise about $16 billion. The companyis weighing whether to increase the amount of debt it's raising inthe investment-grade bond market, one person with knowledge of thematter said Monday.

Dell's bond sale may be the largest since Anheuser-Busch InBevNV sold $46 billion of bonds in January to finance its takeover ofSABMiller Plc., and is expected to launch on Tuesday, said one ofthe people. The offering comes on the heels of the busiest week forbond sales by blue-chip companies in the U.S and Europe sinceJanuary. Top-rated issuers sold about $74 billion in the five-dayperiod ending May 13, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While Dell's proposed notes have been given the lowestinvestment-grade rating, the yields offered may entice investorswho typically buy higher-rated junk bonds, said Matthew Duch, amoney manager at Calvert Investments in Bethesda, Maryland, whichhas about $12 billion of assets under management

The longest part of the offering, debt maturing in 30 years, nowmay yield at least 5.875 percentage points above similar-maturityTreasuries, said another person familiar with the matter. Whilethat's down from an offer of 6.25 percentage points, its stillabout three times the average spread on all U.S. corporate bonds ofsimilar ratings and maturities, according to Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch data.

A proposed 10-year note may yield at least 4.375 percentagepoints above government debt, said the person. That's a premium ofalmost 1.7 percentage points over comparable debt. The debt wasfirst marketed with a premium of 4.75 percentage points.

“You can capture some high-yield interest at these levels,” Duchsaid. “There's no doubt that it becomes more attractive.”

Creditsights Inc. analysts led by Erin Lyons rated the offeringthe equivalent of a buy in a note on Monday, saying the bonds offer“compelling value” compared to the debt of peers including HP Inc.and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Credit Concerns

“We think investors will be willing to overlook the creditconcerns given the attractive yield, secured nature of the bonds,and coupon steps,” they wrote. “We sense investors have made roomin their portfolios, expecting meaningful concessions.”

Moody's Investors Service assigned a Baa3 rating to the bondslast week. S&P Global Ratings graded the debt an equivalentBBB-. Dell also plans to sell $3.25 billion of unsecured notes inthe high-yield market, according to S&P.

The deal is expected to price this week. Bank of America Corp.,Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman SachsGroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are managing the sale.

Investors have been on the lookout for a host of debt offeringsfrom Dell since the company said in October that banks hadcommitted $49.5 billion of financing for the takeover. In April,the computer maker was close to placing a senior portion of thedebt financing — $11 billion of term loans that were up-sized by $1billion — through a syndicate of 24 banks, a person with knowledgeof the matter said at the time.

Representatives for Dell didn't return requests seekingcomment.

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