Meta Raises $10 Billion In Bond Offering

Meta Platforms has successfully bolstered its coffers after a bond offering that raised billions of dollars for the firm.

Reuters cited Meta as saying on Tuesday that it had raised $10 billion in its first-ever bond offering, as it looks to fund share buybacks and investments to revamp its business.

The financial manoeuvre comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned last month that the economic downturn had arrived.

Meta pressures

The firm posted its first ever revenue decline, amid growing pressures including intense competition from the likes of TikTok and declining advertising spend (in part down to Apple’s privacy changes).

Meta’s second quarter results last month also revealed the financial strain on the company from its heavy investment in the Metaverse, as it seeks to expand beyond its social networking core.

Meta has been warning about the pressures it faces for a while now.

Indeed in February Meta alarmed Wall Street investors when for the first time Facebook’s DAU metric declined, and the firm posted weaker than expected fourth quarter results.

That shock caused its share price to plunge more than 20 percent at the time.

Fund raising

Meta last month slashed its hiring plans, by cutting plans to hire engineers by at least 30 percent this year.

Meta has reduced its target for hiring engineers in 2022 to around 6,000-7,000, down from an initial plan to hire about 10,000 new engineers.

Now with the bond raising $10 billion, it will assist Meta to build a more traditional balance sheet and fund some expensive initiatives, such as its metaverse virtual reality.

Other tech giants such as Apple and Intel also issued bonds recently, raising $5.5 billion and $6 billion, respectively.