They get to keep their money for a rainy day, or put more money into projects than if they just used their own. All they have to do it make more than ~ 3.7% using the money in the bond issue.
This only makes sense if all of Google’s current funds are tied up in wealth generating investments and they want even more money to play with. I highly doubt Google’s liquid assets (cash on hand) yield such returns.
While I rarely comment on HN, this topic has really struck a cord with me as I’ve found many people (both online and in person) are focusing primarily on the low interest rate. While not an expert in corporate finance, I’m strongly convinced Google’s current liquid assets aren’t generating returns in excess of 3.7%. (See my comment in another thread of this discussion where I compare these returns to Tbonds.)
Unless Google has a revolutionary strategy for short term trading of liquid assets that generates returns in excess of 3.7%, in which they are so sure of they’ve committed their entire $37B cash-on-hand into, they’d be better off reallocating some of their existing liquid assets into whatever new investment they have in mind for the $3B.
The only other explanations would be preparations for a massive acquisition (major news) or this was done for some corporate politics reason (not news worth).