Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) has offered to buy back $1.2 billion of its long-term debt securities (notes) as part of its plan to reduce long-term debt after spinning off its CareFusion Corporation division on Aug 31, 2009. These securities carry maturity dates from 2011 to 2026. The offer expires on Sept. 24 and the owners of these securities must tender their notes by Sept 10 to receive the early tender premium. The notes were issued by Cardinal Health and its subsidiary, Allegiance Corp., Cardinal will finance the buyback with a combination of both cash in hand and a $1.4 billion it is expecting to generate from the CareFusion spin-off. The amount remaining after financing the tender offer will be used for retiring notes due in Oct 2009. We view the buyback as a good use of the company’s cash balance. Cardinal’s cash balance stood at roughly ...