One of the largest private credit transactions in history has been completed: Apollo (APO US) and Blackstone (BX US) have secured $35 billion in financing for Anthropic.

According to reports, Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.US) and Blackstone Inc. (BX.US) have finalized a $35 billion private credit financing deal to support the expansion of the AI startup company Anthropic. This will be one of the largest private credit transactions in history, with the funds being used to purchase AI chips developed by Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US). A special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by Apollo's Atlas SP Partners has raised both debt and equity capital for the deal, which is supported by a long-term leasing agreement linked to the AI chips. The cash flow generated from these lease payments is said to support the value of this financing, as cited by sources. The project, codenamed "Big Sky," divides the financing into three debt levels. Broadcom Inc. (AVGO.US) supports the interest payments for two of the priority parts. Broadcom Inc. produces the Tensor Processing Units (TPU) for Alphabet Inc. Class C and has agreed to take on the interest rate obligations if Anthropic fails to make payments on time, significantly reducing the cost of financing. The senior debt includes approximately $6 billion of A1 notes, sold to banks at a spread of 100 basis points above the US Treasury yield, as well as $24 billion sold to asset-backed credit investors at a yield of 5.75%. The remaining $4.5 billion of subordinated debt does not have the endorsement of Broadcom Inc., resulting in greater credit risk exposure for Anthropic. This portion is priced at a rate of 8.5%. Investors in the subordinated debt also receive original issue discounts, purchasing notes at 98% to 99% of face value based on the subscription size. Investors evaluating the transaction reportedly did not have access to Anthropic's financial information prior to a potential IPO. This $35 billion private credit financing comes just over a month after Anthropic completed a $65 billion Series H financing in late April. At that time, the round had already set a record for a single round of financing for an AI startup. Currently, Anthropic has secretly submitted an IPO application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with plans to officially debut on the public market in October. Market rumors suggest its potential valuation could reach $965 billion, which would place it among the highest valued tech companies globally, second only to giants like Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, and others. The collaboration between Apollo and Blackstone further confirms the extension of private credit financing from traditional corporate mergers and acquisitions to financing for emerging industry infrastructure. The competition for AI large models fundamentally revolves around computational power, which in turn involves the procurement of chips and the construction of data centers costing tens of billions of dollars. In addition to equity financing, structured private credit is becoming an important complementary channel for AI leading companies to obtain "heavy asset" funding. Furthermore, upstream manufacturers in the industry chain, such as Broadcom Inc., getting involved as "credit enhancers" also provide a replicable template for future similar transactions.