Eli Lilly Sells $9 Billion of Bonds to Fund Acquisitions

Eli Lilly & Co. sold $9 billion of investment-grade bonds Wednesday — the company’s biggest-ever issuance — as it looks to finance an acquisition spree.

The drugmaker’s offering consisted of eight tranches with maturities ranging from two to 40 years, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified disclosing private details. The longest tenor, a bond maturing in 2066, will yield 0.8 percentage point above Treasuries, versus initial price talk of about 1.13 percentage points.