Apollo and Blackstone finalize $35 billion financing for Anthropic's AI infrastructure expansion.
Apollo Global Management and Blackstone have completed a $35 billion financing package for Anthropic, representing one of the largest private credit deals ever arranged for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The financing will support the acquisition of Google-designed AI chips that Anthropic will lease as it expands computing capacity for training and operating advanced AI models.
The debt package was structured across three separate tranches and marks a significant milestone in the emerging market for AI-focused infrastructure financing. This transaction underscores the rising demand for capital as technology companies race to build the computing systems needed to support next-generation AI development, with specialized processors and data centers becoming critical assets.
Broadcom played a pivotal role by providing support for the largest senior portions of the debt package, with Morgan Stanley advising on the arrangement. Approximately half of the $35 billion debt package was distributed to other investors through syndication. Apollo, Blackstone, Anthropic, and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the deal, while Broadcom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Broadcom's involvement highlights its expanding role in the AI ecosystem, particularly through its collaboration with Google on tensor processing units designed specifically for AI workloads. During recent earnings calls, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan outlined plans for the company's AI XPV platform, a collaboration involving Apollo, Blackstone, and other investors aimed at deploying more than 20 gigawatts of computing capacity by 2028. Tan described the strategy as combining Broadcom's technology expertise with large-scale financial backing to provide computing capacity for leading AI developers, including Anthropic and OpenAI.
The financing package arrives shortly after Anthropic confidentially filed for an initial public offering. Anthropic, known for developing the Claude family of AI models, recently completed a funding round that valued the company at $965 billion, including this new investment.
The transaction uses a specialized financing structure in which a special-purpose vehicle raises debt and equity capital to purchase AI chips, which are then leased to Anthropic. Debt investors are primarily repaid through lease payments, with the structure also accounting for potential residual value of the chips over time.
The financing package comprises three debt layers. The senior tranches consist of $6 billion in A1 notes priced at one percentage point above U.S. Treasury yields and $24 billion in A2 notes at a 5.75 percent coupon. Institutional investors in the A2 tranche included Athene, Apollo's insurance subsidiary, which typically invests in high-quality debt assets. The third layer comprises $4.5 billion in B notes, issued without Broadcom's support agreement at an 8.5 percent coupon.
Atlas SP Partners, Apollo's structured-finance unit, contributed $800 million in equity, becoming the owner of the special-purpose vehicle. One of the transaction's most distinctive features is Broadcom's residual value support agreement. If Anthropic fails to make lease payments for a specified period, the SPV can sell the chips and use proceeds to repay debt investors. If the sale value is insufficient to fully repay the A1 and A2 tranches, Broadcom will cover the shortfall for the full amount owed to senior investors. Similar structures have appeared in other large-scale infrastructure financings, such as the financing linked to Meta's Hyperion data center project in Louisiana, where asset-value protections helped align the debt's trading profile with Meta's corporate credit.