Apollo and Blackstone Secure $36 Billion Debt Deal to Acquire Anthropic’s Chips
It appears that Apollo Global Management and Blackstone are in the process of arranging a substantial debt deal valued at approximately $36 billion to purchase Anthropic‘s chips. However, instead of Anthropic directly borrowing this sum, the financing structure involves a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) that buys Google’s custom tensor processing units (TPUs). These TPUs are then leased back to Anthropic for use in their data centers across multiple states.
This approach is notable for several reasons:
- Size and Complexity: It’s one of the largest private credit transactions centered around a single company’s compute needs, showcasing intricate financial engineering.
- Lease Structure: By leasing the hardware rather than purchasing it directly, Anthropic avoids carrying significant debt, while lenders benefit from an asset-backed structure with Broadcom providing residual value support for roughly $31 billion of senior debt.
- Investor Involvement: Apollo and Blackstone plan to sell down part of the debt while retaining substantial portions themselves, signaling their confidence in the deal and indicating a potential syndicate structure.
- Existing Relationships: Blackstone already holds a significant equity stake in Anthropic and is involved in a separate joint venture to support the company’s growth.
The broader context is an intensifying race for compute power, especially in the field of AI. This financing reflects Anthropic’s high valuation, above $900 billion, as it aims to secure the necessary hardware (and more) to sustain its growth trajectory. The deal binds together various players—the model developer, cloud providers, chip designers, and private credit giants—each taking on a different slice of risk associated with the expanding demand for Anthropic’s technology.
The story was crafted by Ana-Maria Stanciuc, TNW’s Editor-in-Chief.