US chip maker Intel is set to become the latest global multinational to raise funds in the Australian dollar bond market, following Apple's ground-breaking $2.25 billion deal in   August. 
The California-based tech giant with a market capitalisation of $US150 billion ($210 billion) announced its intentions to issue an Australian bond via its bankers, Westpac and Deutsche Bank.
They have set up conference calls and one-on-one meetings for fixed income fund managers with Intel treasurer Ravi Jacob and the company's investor relations representatives.
Intel is rated A+ by Standard & Poor's and A1 by Moody's; one notch below the rating of the major Australian banks at AA-.
The raising issue, should it proceed, would represent the second Australian dollar bond so far this year by a Dow Jones Industrial Average member following Apple's mega $2.25 billion Kangaroo bond issue in   August. Apple's bond served to show other large companies that Australia's superannuation funds represented a meaningful source of debt funding.  
Intel's core chip business has been hit by a consumer shift away from PCs and into mobile devices. The company also recently cut growth forecasts for its data centre business. Its shares have fallen about 12 per cent this year. 
It was not clear whether any funds raised in Australia would be used for general corporate purposes, for capital expenditure, or, like Apple, to fund shareholder-friendly buybacks and dividends.
Intel had about $US10 billion in cash stored offshore, Moody's said in   June. 
The funds cannot be repatriated to the US without being subject to a double tax. 
At an investor day this week, Credit Suisse analysts forecast the company would announce plans to raise capital spending to as much as $US10 billion in 2016 to help fund a new plant in China and while it developed a new manufacturing process to make smaller chips. 
In addition to Intel, Heathrow Airport, which met investors this year, had floated plans to place long-term debt with Australian bond investors.
The presence of international companies in the domestic bond market has been welcomed by investors keen to spread their credit exposure beyond the banking and property sector.
However, some global companies have presented headaches. The Australian dollar bonds of troubled companies Volkswagen and Glencore had resulted in paper losses for investors that subscribed to their respective raisings.
As the end of the year nears, non-financial corporate issuance of $8.1 billion is tracking well ahead of the $7 billion raised at this stage last year.
However, the bulk of the issuance remains concentrated in the financial sector with almost $40 billion issued by Australian banks and local branches of foreign lenders so far this year.