The Financial Times reports KBRA rated Anthropic BB+ in June, one notch below investment grade, ahead of a $35 billion chip financing
ANTHROPIC SECURES BB+ CREDIT RATING AS WALL STREET PREPARES $60 BILLION AI FINANCING Anthropic received a BB+ credit rating from KBRA, just one notch below investment grade, ahead of a $35 billion chip financing deal. Now, Wall Street banks are reportedly assembling another $60 billion financing package for AI chips developed by Google ($GOOGL) and Broadcom ($AVGO). The company could also issue up to $42 billion in convertible notes to finance chip leases. The key concern: Anthropic's massive AI expansion increasingly depends on access to affordable debt financing.
Context
Anthropic's huge compute buildout depends on borrowing, and its credit rating shapes how cheaply lenders will fund the chips it needs.
This is secondhand: Walter Bloomberg and unusual_whales are relaying a Financial Times report based on documents it reviewed. The rating was issued in June and only reported now, so this is newly disclosed rather than new, and KBRA and Anthropic declined to comment.
Deep dive
On October 16, Walter Bloomberg posted that Anthropic received a BB+ credit rating from KBRA, one notch below investment grade, ahead of a $35 billion chip financing deal, that Wall Street banks are reportedly assembling another $60 billion financing package for AI chips developed by Google and Broadcom, and that the company could issue up to $42 billion in convertible notes to finance chip leases. unusual_whales later posted similar figures.
Reports summarizing the Financial Times story say KBRA assigned the BB+ issuer rating in June, tied to the $35 billion financing led by Apollo for Broadcom's AI chip platform serving Anthropic. About $4.4 billion of junior debt exposed to Anthropic's credit was rated BB+ with a stable outlook and sold at roughly 8.5%, while the rest was guaranteed by Broadcom. KBRA used a risk score approach because Anthropic shared limited data, such as revenue and adjusted operating income but not free cash flow.
The reports say Anthropic had no debt on its own balance sheet in late June, and that the planned $60 billion bank deal includes $18 billion of junior debt backed by Anthropic's chip rent payments. KBRA is smaller than Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
What to expect next
Watch whether Moody's, S&P or Fitch rate Anthropic after its IPO, and whether it reaches investment grade, which would lower its borrowing costs.
Also watch the pricing of the planned $60 billion chip financing, whether Anthropic issues the convertible notes, and how investors weigh this debt alongside the IPO valuation talks reported this week. The terms of the junior tranche will show how lenders view the risk.