St. Jude Medical, Inc. ( ) announced that it has resorted to fund raising activities by issuing senior notes. The company has offered $700 million of senior notes due 2014 and $500 million of senior notes due 2019. The 2014 Notes have an interest of 3.750% per annum and will mature on July 15, 2014. The 2019 Notes have an interest of 4.875% per annum and will mature on July 15, 2019.

St. Jude will use the net proceeds from these offerings primarily for repayment of its debt and repurchase of its common stock under its $500 million share repurchase program. The company has an outstanding (both short and long term) debt of roughly $1.3 billion at the end of July 4, 2009.

St. Jude also resorted to several fund raising activities in the past few months. In December 2008, the company borrowed $500 million under its existing $1 billion credit facility. Then, it entered into a three-year agreement for $360 million with a consortium of banks in Japan, and later issued $88 million of three-year notes.

In January 2009, the company borrowed an additional $180 million under this agreement. The company used these amounts to fund its acquisitions and repay its $1.2 billion in convertible debentures. The borrowings will increase the credit risk of the company if St. Jude does not properly utilize these funds.

St. Jude is a leading medical device manufacturer that designs, manufactures and distributes medical devices to treat cardiovascular and neurological conditions. The company holds the #2 market position for ICDs and pacemakers behind Medtronic ( ) but ahead of Boston Scientific ( ). This segment is the company’s largest in terms of revenue. St. Jude also holds the #2 market position behind Medtronic in neuromodulation.