Alphabet eyes $3 billion Hong Kong, Singapore bond sale, sources say

By Scott Murdoch, Yantoultra Ngui and Roshan Thomas Nov 11 (Reuters) – Google parent Alphabet is looking to raise about $3 billion equivalent through its first bond sales in Hong Kong and Singapore dollars, two people with knowledge of ​the matter said, testing Asian investor demand after an AI-led selloff in ‌global markets earlier this month. One of the people added that the sales would likely raise at least $2.2 billion, with Alphabet considering minimum sizes of HK$8 billion ($1 billion) for the Hong Kong dollar portion and S$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) for the Singapore dollar portion. The final size, timing and pricing have ‌not ​been set, the person added. The deal is expected to ⁠be launched as early as ⁠Thursday, with bookbuilding and pricing during Asian trading hours, according to the person. The bonds are expected to settle on November 19, the person added. The people declined to be named as the matter is private. Alphabet has mandated HSBC and ​JPMorgan as joint global coordinators, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters earlier Wednesday. The bonds are expected to be rated Aa2 by Moody’s and ⁠AA+ by S&P, the sheet showed. Bank of China (Hong ⁠Kong), ICBC (Asia) and Standard Chartered are also working on the ​Hong Kong dollar sale, while DBS, OCBC and UOB are working on the Singapore dollar ​portion, the sheet showed. The Hong Kong dollar bonds could have two-, ‌five- and 10-year maturities, while the Singapore dollar bonds could have two-, five-, 10- and 30-year maturities, the sheet showed. Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sale would add to Alphabet’s borrowing this year as it increases spending on ⁠data centres and other AI computing infrastructure. Alphabet said in an October 29 filing that it had issued $45 billion of US dollar-denominated notes and $35.8 billion of foreign currency notes in ⁠the nine months to ‌end-September for general corporate purposes. Alphabet last week raised €6 billion ($6.7 billion) ⁠through a euro-denominated bond sale. It also sold $25 billion of ​US ‌dollar bonds in August and A$5.5 billion ($3.8 billion) Australian dollar ​bonds in ⁠the same month. Other large technology companies have also tapped debt markets. Last week, Meta completed a $15 billion US bond sale and Oracle sold $10 billion of bonds. ($1 = 7.8459 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 1.2816 Singapore dollars) ($1 = 0.8957 euros) ($1 = 1.4541 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru, Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Yantoultra Ngui in Hong Kong; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, ​Kevin Buckland, Toby Chopra)