Disney to Issue $1 Billion in Corporate Bonds

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Walt Disney Co. plans to raise $1 billion via five-year notes in its first U.S. bond offering in more than a year, according to media reports.

Disney’s five-year notes may yield 337.5 basis points more than Treasuries of similar maturity, a person familiar with the offering told Bloomberg News. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

Disney is among the first companies to head to the bond market after the Federal Reserve slashed its target lending rate Tuesday to a range of zero to 0.25 percent. That pushes Treasury bonds to record lows and cuts corporate borrowing costs.

Separately, a Disney financial partner that is seeking a share of profits from the films “High School Musical 3″ and Hannah Montana: The Movie” filed suit against the Burbank media giant.

In the “High School Musical 3” lawsuit, Kingdom Films LLC claims in a suit filed in Delaware that Disney is violating a 2005 contract by refusing to include High School Musical 3 on a revenue-sharing list and threatening to exclude the Hannah Montana movie.

Kingdom Films, an affiliate of Blackstone Group LP, said it is helping to fund 32 movies and is entitled to some of the profits, according to the complaint. It committed to providing $135 million in equity financing and a $370 million credit line for the films, it said.

Kingdom’s exclusion from the two hit Disney films, based on franchises originating on the cable Disney Channel, is “part of a concerted effort to eliminate from the slate those films that defendants believe may be profitable as a result of their association with the Disney Channel,” the suit said.

Disney shares closed down 20 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $23.58 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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