U.S. companies are finally listening to stock and bond investors that have been pressing them to cut their debt loads.

General Electric Co. is selling its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher Corp. for more than $21 billion and using the money to pay down borrowings. Kraft Heinz Co. said last week that it is slashing its dividend and using the proceeds of asset sales to reduce its liabilities. Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, said last month that the company's top priority in 2019 is to lower its debt.

Plans like these are good news for bondholders, who have spent years watching these companies borrow more and more to finance moves like acquisitions that are designed to boost share prices, says Brian Kennedy, a senior portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Molly Smith

Molly joined Law.com International as a reporter in July 2024 after a couple of years working in business development and following the completion of a degree in journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. [email protected]