As we reported at the end of July 2016, Analog Devices is planning to buy Linear Technology. The merger – expected to cost around 13 billion euros (15 billion dollars) – is to be completed in the first half of 2017. Because 13 billion euros is a lot of money, even for a semiconductor giant, AD has started a crowdfunding campaign to bring in some cash. The target is almost 2 billion euros (2.1 billion dollars)…

Is this the biggest crowdfunding campaign in history? No, it is not, even though the amount is pretty high. According to Wikipedia, our faithful source, the largest initial public offering (IPO) to date was launched in 2014 by the Alibaba Group for 25 billion dollars.

In the case of AD we are not talking IPO, but senior unsecured notes to be issued in four flavours: $400 million at 2.5% due December 5, 2021, $550 million at 3.125% due December 5, 2023, $900 million at 3.5% due December 5, 2026 and $250 million at 4.5% due December 5, 2036.

As with crowdfunding, the more risk you are willing to take, the higher your return on investment may be (note the word ‘may’). AD invites investors to read the documentation for the offering filed with the SEC (ask Edgar).