Apple, which issued the biggest green bond ever sold by a U.S.corporation last year to finance projects fighting global warming,is doing it again.

On Tuesday, the iPhone maker sold a $1 billion green bond tofund renewable energy generation. It builds on $1.5 billion worthof bonds the company sold a year ago to further its goal of running100% of its operations on renewable energy.

The bonds, maturing in 2027, will yield 95 to 100 basis pointsmore than Treasuries, according to a person with knowledge of thematter, who asked not to be named because the deal is private. Theyare expected to be rated Aa1, the person said.

The sale was arranged by Bank of America Corp., Goldman SachsGroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

While companies have issued tens of billions of dollars in greenbonds in recent years for projects that cut global-warmingemissions, the size of Apple's first issuance fueled speculationthat other companies would follow.

The company's latest bond comes less than two weeks afterPresident Donald Trump decided to pull the U.S. out of the Parisclimate accord, an international pact to curb greenhouse-gasemissions signed by almost 200 countries. Apple CEO Tim Cook saidlast week he sought to persuade the president not to withdraw.

“Leadership from the business community is essential to addressthe threat of climate change,” Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice presidentof environment, policy and social initiatives, said in thestatement. The company was among those that signed an open letterpledging to continue supporting efforts to meet the Parisagreement.

Apple said it plans to use the proceeds to finance projectsinvolving renewable energy resources and energy efficiency, amongother things. The latest bond offering includes a focus onadvancing Apple's goal of a closed-loop supply chain, through whichproducts are made using only renewable resources and recycledmaterial.

The debt issuance means Apple doesn't have to tap its vastoffshore cash reserves to fund its renewables projects. The companyis investing in solar energy, hydroelectric plants and biogasfacilities in Arizona, California, Nevada, North Carolina, andOregon, including $850 million on a 130-megawatt solar farm nearSan Francisco over the next quarter century, and it has receivedpermission to sell power to the wholesale energy markets.

Even with cash and equivalents totaling $257 billion, Apple hasissued debt totaling $99 billion to fund stock buybacks anddividends, because most of that money is held outside the U.S. andwould be subject to a 35% corporate income tax if it wererepatriated.

Bloomberg

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.