Apollo and Blackstone Structure $36 Billion AI Financing Deal Backed by Anthropic and Broadcom
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
New details are emerging around one of the largest artificial intelligence infrastructure financing transactions ever assembled, as Apollo Global Management and Blackstone prepare to market roughly $36 billion of investment-grade structured debt tied to AI hardware leased to Anthropic.
According to market participants familiar with the transaction, the financing package is divided into several layers of debt designed to appeal to institutional and private credit investors seeking exposure to the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure sector.
The capital structure reportedly includes approximately $6 billion in super-senior A1 notes, roughly $25 billion in first-lien senior A2 notes, and approximately $4.5 billion in second-lien B notes.
Sources indicate initial pricing discussions for the A1 tranche are hovering around Treasury yields plus 100 basis points. Meanwhile, the A2 notes are being discussed at an estimated all-in yield between 5.50% and 5.75%. The riskier second-lien B tranche is expected to offer investors a fixed coupon near 8.5%.
The financing is expected to be partially syndicated to outside investors, while Apollo and Blackstone retain meaningful exposure themselves. Market sources say only a limited portion of the subordinated second-lien debt is expected to be distributed externally, suggesting the firms are maintaining confidence in the transaction’s long-term economics.
A consortium of major Wall Street banks is supporting the offering. For the A1 notes, Wells Fargo is acting as global coordinator, joint bookrunner, and joint lead arranger. BNP Paribas, Citigroup, and UBS are also serving as joint bookrunners and lead arrangers.
For the larger A2 tranche, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley are managing placement efforts with institutional investors.
The structure behind the financing is particularly notable because it revolves around AI hardware ownership rather than traditional corporate borrowing. A newly formed special purpose vehicle will use proceeds from the debt issuance to purchase tensor processing units, commonly known as TPUs. Those chips will then be leased directly to Anthropic to power the company’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence models and generative AI systems.
TPUs are highly specialized AI accelerators developed within Google’s hardware ecosystem and are widely used for training and operating large-scale machine learning models. Broadcom plays a major role in TPU development and manufacturing and is expected to serve as a critical credit support provider in the transaction.
One of the most important protections for investors comes through a residual value support agreement from Broadcom. Under the arrangement, if Anthropic were unable to meet lease obligations and the underlying TPUs could not be sold for sufficient value to repay senior debt holders, Broadcom would step in to cover potential shortfalls affecting the A1 and A2 tranches.
The structure reflects how AI infrastructure is increasingly becoming its own asset class within global credit markets. Instead of financing office buildings, aircraft, or industrial equipment, institutional investors are now deploying tens of billions of dollars into the physical computing backbone required to power next-generation artificial intelligence systems.
Neither Apollo nor Blackstone publicly commented on the financing structure. Anthropic and Broadcom also declined to provide statements regarding the transaction.
As demand for AI computing power continues to explode, transactions like this could become increasingly common across both public and private credit markets, particularly as technology firms seek alternative ways to finance the enormous cost of advanced AI hardware.
