Biz Brief: Microsoft to Pay Off Short Term Debt

Microsoft (MSFT) says it will sell $1.15 billion of convertible senior notes due in 2010 and use those funds to pay down its short-term debt. In addition, it also plans to repurchase shares of its common stock. The sale of convertible debt will offer buyers the option to buy up to $100,000 principal amount of additional convertible notes over a 13-day period.

Good news for a company that has, recently, been facing increased competition from Google (GOOG). Google recently announced its own operating system for personal computers -- Google Chrome -- (not the browser) and is also competing with the PC software giant in other areas such as tablet computing.

Shares of Microsoft are down about 17% so far this year, trading around $25 per share.