Abbott Labs plans $3 billion debt offering

Abbott Laboratories, maker of the arthritis drug Humira, may issue $3 billion of notes in the biggest U.S. corporate bond sale in a month.

The offering comprises $750 million of 5-year notes that may yield 70 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, $1 billion of 10-year debt that may pay 90 basis points more than governments and $1.25 billion of 30-year bonds that may pay a 122 basis-point spread, according to a person familiar with the transaction. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

Abbott is tapping the bond market for the first time since February 2009 as investors' concern that Europe's sovereign debt crisis will spread pushes issuance this month to the lowest in a decade. The Libertyville Township-based company will use proceeds to repay some of its $3.6 billion of commercial paper and for general corporate purposes, according to a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"It's not going to be a problem for them to get this done," said Greg Haendel, a money manager at Transamerica Investment Management in Los Angeles. "They're a very high- quality issuer and there's still demand for high-quality names."

The issue is the largest since NBC Universal Inc., a unit of General Electric Co., sold $4 billion of 5-, 10- and 30-year debt on April 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Global SalesGlobal corporate bond volume has fallen to $47 billion this month, down from $183 billion in April and the least since December 1999, Bloomberg data show.Abbott may sell the debt as soon as today, said the person, who declined to be identified because terms aren't set. It hired Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase Co., Morgan Stanley, Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG to manage the sale, according to the prospectus.The pharmaceuticals maker will buy Piramal Healthcare Ltd.'s branded generic-medicine unit in India for $3.72 billion, it announced on May 21. Abbott said it will pay $2.12 billion upfront and $400 million annually for four years starting in 2011 for the unit.Moody's said today it rated the notes A1 and put them on review for a possible downgrade. The ratings company said that following the close of the Piramal purchase, "Abbott is expected to carry a substantial amount of short-term debt."Standard Poor's ranks the company AA with a "stable" outlook.Abbott sold $2 billion of 5.125 percent, 10-year notes in February 2009 that paid 220 basis points more than benchmarks and $1 billion of 6 percent, 30-year bonds at a 235 basis-point spread, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.