100-Year Bonds Are ‘Sleeping Beauties’

Here’s an investment that Sleeping Beauty fans may appreciate.

Walt Disney Co., borrowing from one of its fairy-tale classics, said it may sell a bond that won’t mature for 100 years. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but that’s how long the sleeping princess waited until awakened by a prince’s magic kiss.

Disney may have to work some of its own magic to sell such bonds, which won’t pay back investors their principal until near the end of the next century.

While Disney has garnered top-level ratings for its $1.6 billion in outstanding debt, it’s tough to predict financial condition decades from now.

Potential buyers probably would be managers of insurance company and pension funds, said John Atkins, a corporate bond analyst. They rely on a steady interest income but typically do not need to draw on their investments’ principal for the foreseeable future, he said.

The Disney bond, if it is sold, would break modern-day records for long-term debt.

“I guess they figure Disney is a solid enough credit. I guess 100 years of Mickey Mouse doesn’t seem unreasonable,” Atkins said.