Anthropic may not secure investment-grade rating after IPO, Blackstone says
News Source
β’Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:19:08 GMT
π° What Happened
Blackstone told investors in Anthropic's $63 billion chip financing deal that the AI company is expected to receive a "high" junk credit rating after its initial public offering, a reversal from earlier guidance that it would secure investment grade before year-end. Anthropic filed to go public on Monday in what could be the largest listing ever, with a prospectus outlining more than $800 billion of computing infrastructure spending through 2045.
π The Backstory
The financing, known as Project North Star, funds Anthropic's lease of 1.5 gigawatts of Google chips, with more than $42 billion of senior loans guaranteed by investment-grade Broadcom and $18 billion of junior debt backed by Anthropic's lease payments. Blackstone funds took $9 billion of that junior debt at a yield above 10 percent, and the junior tranche has been rated BB-plus with a positive outlook by Kroll and BB by Morningstar DBRS.
π― Why It Matters
An investment-grade rating would let Anthropic borrow cheaply to build data centres, and losing it limits demand from insurers and pension funds that are restricted from holding large junk positions, pushing up the cost of the AI buildout. US tech stocks slid to session lows after the report, with the Nasdaq 100 down 4.2 percent, showing how directly AI financing conditions now feed into market valuations.
Blackstone told investors in Anthropic's $63 billion chip financing deal that the AI company is expected to receive a "high" junk credit rating after its initial public offering, a reversal from earlier guidance that it would secure investment grade before year-end. Anthropic filed to go public on Monday in what could be the largest listing ever, with a prospectus outlining more than $800 billion of computing infrastructure spending through 2045.
The financing, known as Project North Star, funds Anthropic's lease of 1.5 gigawatts of Google chips, with more than $42 billion of senior loans guaranteed by investment-grade Broadcom and $18 billion of junior debt backed by Anthropic's lease payments. Blackstone funds took $9 billion of that junior debt at a yield above 10 percent, and the junior tranche has been rated BB-plus with a positive outlook by Kroll and BB by Morningstar DBRS.
An investment-grade rating would let Anthropic borrow cheaply to build data centres, and losing it limits demand from insurers and pension funds that are restricted from holding large junk positions, pushing up the cost of the AI buildout. US tech stocks slid to session lows after the report, with the Nasdaq 100 down 4.2 percent, showing how directly AI financing conditions now feed into market valuations.