Tesco has raised $2 billion (£990 million) of debt in its first ever dollar-denominated bond issue.

The move comes a week before the supermarket giant launches an aggressive bid to establish itself in the US by opening six stores in southern California under the Fresh & Easy brand.

Tesco today said the bond issue, its biggest for 19 months, reflected an attempt to broaden its investor base in the US. It added that the proceeds would be used for “general corporate purposes” as well as refinancing other short-term loans.

Speculation of the debt raising, jointly arranged by Citigroup and JP Morgan Cazenove, emerged late last night.

The issue includes 10-year notes paying 5.500 per cent interest and 30-year notes offering a payback of 6.15 per cent.

Philip Dorgan, analyst at Panmure Gordon, said: “Tesco is expanding in places like Ireland, central Europe, Thailand, South Korea as well as the US, where they are going to be growing from nothing to a fairly substantial business in my view, and it all needs financing.”

Tesco has already revealed plans to invest up to £250 million a year in the US as it strives to build up a business it believes could eventually rival the size of its UK operation.

Earlier this summer Tim Mason, Fresh & Easy’s chief executive, said: “There is no point going to America to build a small business.”

Analysts believe the successful launch of Fresh & Easy in the US will prove one of the biggest challenges for Sir Terry Leahy since he took over as chief executive in the 1990s.

Expansion overseas has been one of the cornerstones of Tesco's profits growth in recent years given planning clampdowns and competition concerns in the UK. The Competition Commission is expected to reveal the provisional findings of its ongoing inquiry into the UK grocery market tomorrow.

The Fresh & Easy chain is marketing itself as the home of wholesome, fresher food than the average US supermarket. It aims to attract anyone from wealthy Californians to blue-collar workers.

Five further stores are planned to open in the Las Vegas region on November 17, to be followed by further sites in Phoenix and San Diego before the end of the year.

Each store will measure roughly 10,000 sq ft, smaller than the typical UK supermarket.

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