Alphabet Raises A$5.5 Billion in Australia, More Than Doubling a Previous Apple Record (2015)
Alphabet priced its first Australian dollar bond on Wednesday at A$5.5 billion, approximately US$3.9 billion, exceeding market expectations by about 10%. This is the largest corporate bond sale in the Australian market.
The company hired banks on Monday for a four-tranche transaction valued at around A$5 billion. Due to strong demand, Alphabet secured an additional A$500 million.
The previous record was Apple’s A$2.25 billion in 2015, the last time a major American technology company issued in Australian dollars. Alphabet has more than doubled that record after a decade during which no other companies attempted such a move.
The deal consisted of four tranches with maturities of three, five, 10, and 20 years, offered in both fixed and floating forms. The 20-year tranche carried a 6.9% coupon according to the term sheet. ANZ, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and TD Securities acted as bookrunners.
Tranche sizes, spreads over swap, and the order book were not disclosed. Alphabet is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA+ by S&P, both with a stable outlook.
Rationale for the Bond Issue
The reason for this move is clear. Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to between $195 billion and $205 billion in July, and in the same quarter, reported the first negative free cash flow of its public life, at -$5.9 billion.
"The capital expenditure commitments… have clearly exceeded the free cash flow their underlying businesses can generate," stated Helen Mason of Schroders regarding hyperscalers in general.
Alphabet’s Global Borrowing Strategy
Australia is the seventh currency Alphabet has borrowed in the last eighteen months. Its previous issues include US dollars (including $25 billion this month), euros, sterling (with a rare 100-year tranche), Swiss francs, Canadian dollars, and a debut samurai bond in yen.
The cumulative effect of these borrowings is evident on Alphabet’s balance sheet, with total debt rising from roughly $12 billion at the end of 2024 to approximately $102 billion. Over $114 billion has been issued since 2025, and in June, an equity raise of about $85 billion was secured, including a $10 billion private placement with Berkshire Hathaway.
While Alphabet acts as a leader, Amazon set the Canadian dollar record at C$14 billion in June, two months after Alphabet’s own C$8.5 billion issue. The five largest hyperscalers have now issued a record $159 billion in bonds to fund AI.
Market Trends
The numbers behind this trend are striking. Hyperscaler bond issuance reached approximately $194 billion in the first seven months of 2026, up by about 80% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, consensus estimates for industry-wide AI capex this year have surged above $730 billion from $485 billion in January.
Smaller currency markets, like Australia, are attractive for this kind of borrowing as they are under-served. Foreign issuance in Australian dollars has reached about A$60 billion this year, up by 40% from 2025, making it the third-largest bond market in the world by some measures.
"An Alphabet transaction would begin to change that, broadening the opportunity set for Australian investors while increasing technology representation in the Australian corporate bond market," said Chamath De Silva, head of fixed income at Betashares, before the deal priced.