Alphabet is preparing its first bond issuance denominated in Hong Kong dollars and Singapore dollars, aiming to raise roughly $3 billion in total. The move comes as the company gauges Asian investor demand following earlier global market selling linked to the artificial intelligence sector.
Size and structure of the deal
According to people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters, the transaction will at minimum reach $2.2 billion, with the overall target around $3 billion. For planning purposes, Alphabet expects the Hong Kong-dollar series to be at least HK$8 billion and the Singapore-dollar series to have a floor of S$1.5 billion. Final size, pricing and exact timing have not been set.
Tenors and banks involved
Reuters reported that the Hong Kong-dollar notes could be offered in two-, five- and ten-year maturities, while the Singapore-dollar bonds may be issued with two-, five-, ten- and thirty-year tenors.
HSBC and JPMorgan are acting as global coordinators for the transaction. Additional lead banks on the Hong Kong issuance include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Standard Chartered; in Singapore, DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) are participating.
Purpose of the funding
Alphabet is raising additional debt largely to finance growing investments in data centres and the computing infrastructure required to run artificial intelligence systems. In its most recent financial reporting, the company said that in the nine months ended September it issued $45 billion of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds and a further $35.8 billion of bonds denominated in other currencies for general corporate purposes.
Alphabet has been highly active in capital markets in recent weeks: last week it sold €6 billion of euro-denominated bonds, and in August it issued $25 billion of U.S. dollar and A$5.5 billion of Australian dollar debt.
Market context
Debt issuance has been common among large tech firms: last week Meta sold $15 billion and Oracle $10 billion of bonds in the United States. Alphabet’s planned Asian offering reflects efforts to diversify funding sources and support rapidly increasing infrastructure spending.
This article is based on Reuters reporting. It does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation.
