Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US) Said to Expand AI Financing Reach to Asia: Plans to Offer US$3 Billion in Bonds in Hong Kong and Singapore

Alphabet Inc. Class C parent Alphabet (GOOGL.US) is seeking to raise about US$3 billion equivalent through its first-ever Hong Kong dollar and Singapore dollar bond offerings, to test demand from Asian investors after the global market selloff triggered by AI earlier this month, two people familiar with the matter said. The offering is expected to raise at least US$2.2 billion, with Alphabet considering minimum sizes of HK$8 billion (about US$1 billion) for the Hong Kong dollar portion and S$1.5 billion (about US$1.2 billion) for the Singapore dollar portion, one of the people added. The final size, timing and pricing have not yet been finalized. The deal is expected to launch as early as Thursday, with bookbuilding and pricing to be completed during Asian trading hours, and the bonds are expected to settle on Nov. 19, the person said. A term sheet reported earlier on Wednesday showed that Alphabet has appointed HSBC HOLDINGS and JPMorgan as joint global coordinators. The term sheet also showed the bonds are expected to be rated Aa2 by Moody's Corporation and AA+ by S&P. Bank Of China (Hong Kong), ICBC Asia and Standard Chartered Bank are also playing roles in the Hong Kong dollar offering; DBS Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank are participating in the Singapore dollar portion. The term sheet showed the Hong Kong dollar bonds may have tenors of 2, 5 and 10 years, while the Singapore dollar bonds may have tenors of 2, 5, 10 and 30 years. Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The offering will further add to Alphabet's borrowing this year as the company ramps up spending on data centers and other AI computing infrastructure. Alphabet disclosed in an Oct. 29 filing that in the first nine months through the end of September, it had issued US$45 billion of U.S. dollar-denominated notes and US$35.8 billion of foreign currency-denominated notes for general corporate purposes. Alphabet just raised EUR6 billion (about US$6.7 billion) through a euro bond offering last week; in August it also issued US$25 billion of U.S. dollar bonds and A$5.5 billion (about US$3.8 billion) of Australian dollar bonds. Other large technology companies are also tapping the bond market. Last week, Meta completed a US$15 billion U.S. bond offering, while Oracle Corporation sold US$10 billion of bonds.