NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. and its finance unit on Thursday sold $6.25 billion of dollar-denominated bonds, part of an expected $17 billion multi-currency debt sale, the largest ever by a corporation.
GM sold $1 billion of 10-year notes yielding 375 basis points more than Treasuries. It also sold $1.25 billion of 20-year bonds, $250 million more than expected, yielding 383 basis points more than Treasuries, and $3 billion of 30-year bonds yielding 400 basis points more than Treasuries. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley managed that portion of the sale.
Also, GM's finance unit, General Motors Acceptance Corp., sold $1 billion of three-year notes yielding 290 basis points more than Treasuries.
Moody's Investors Service rates GM's debt "Baa1," its third-lowest investment grade, while Standard & Poor's rates it roughly one notch lower at "BBB."
GM, GMAC and another unit, GM Nova Scotia Finance Co., also sold about $7.3 billion in euro and sterling debt. The offering also includes about $3.5 billion of convertible securities, expected to price late on Thursday.