Alphabet raised almost $17 billion in bond sales last week, including a 9 billion euro issue and an 8.5 billion Canadian dollar issue [1, 2]. The company is now conducting a yen-denominated bond sale in Tokyo, with expected proceeds of several hundred billion yen. Terms for the yen sale are to be finalized this month [2].
Alphabet has mandated Mizuho, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley to handle the yen bond transaction [2]. When the yen offering concludes, Alphabet's total bond issuance over the past four months will reach close to $60 billion [1].
These overseas bond offerings come as big technology companies increasingly tap international debt markets to fund expansion of their artificial intelligence infrastructure [2]. Spending on AI infrastructure by big tech is projected to rise from $410 billion in 2025 to over $700 billion in 2026 [2].
Amazon is also active in the overseas debt market, preparing its first Swiss franc bond offering with proceeds to support corporate investments and capital expenditures. The company has mandated BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan Chase on a multi-part debt sale with maturities of 3 to 25 years [2].
"It’s simply a function of when you have that much debt to raise and have very good credit like the hyperscalers are, you can do that not just domestically but globally," said Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at B Riley Wealth [2].
Alphabet disclosed its plans for the yen bond sale and Amazon's Swiss franc offering on May 12, following Alphabet’s roughly $17 billion bond sales between May 7 and May 11 [1, 2]. Terms for the yen bond offering are expected to be set by the end of May [2].
