Netflix to sell $2bn worth of bonds amid competition with streaming rivals

Netflix will issue $2bn (£1.5bn) worth of bonds, denominated in both dollars and euros, to raise money as the battle over TV and film streaming intensifies.

Read more: Netflix predicts slowed subscriber growth as price hikes begin to hurt

The online media giant said the interest rate, maturity date, and other terms of the bonds will be determined in negotiations with buyers as it announced the issuance today.

The move comes as Netflix’s rivals Disney, Warner Media, Apple and Comcast are each preparing their own streaming services which they hope to launch this year.

Netflix said it intends to spend the $2bn raised by the bond sale on buying content and the production and development of its high-budget headline films and TV shows, among other things.

The company’s first quarter results, released last week, revealed that its long-term debt stood at $10.3bn. Spencer Neumann, chief financial officer of Netflix, said on an earnings call that the use of debt markets to fund its cash flow was “not forever" as the company was moving towards a “self-funding path”.

Last week Netflix said it expected competition from Disney and Apple would not “materially affect our growth because the transition from linear to on demand entertainment is so massive and because of the differing nature of our content offerings”.