Wal-Mart to retire $8.5 billion in debt tender offer

Wal-Mart Stores is making a tender offer to purchase certain outstanding debt securities issued by the retail giant to reduce the company’s interest expense.

The $8.5 billion tender offer was announced Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and involves 13 different debt securities ranging in interest rates from 6.2% to 3.65%, and the maturity date ranges from 2019 to 2044.

Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs noted in the release the debt once purchased by Wal-Mart will be retired and canceled from the company’s debt obligations.

“This tender offer allows us to take advantage of the favorable interest rate environment and reduce our interest expense prospectively. We expect to record a charge for this discrete item upon completion of this tender offer just as we did for the July transaction,”  Biggs said.

The tender offer is effective beginning Oct. 6 through Nov. 3, according to the release.