HONG KONG – Google parent Alphabet’s first Hong Kong and Singapore dollar bond sales drew combined orders of about US$5 billion (S$6.4 billion) early on Nov 12, including orders from banks arranging the deals, according to deal statistics seen by Reuters.
The strong order books give Alphabet flexibility to increase its planned financing as it accelerates investment in AI infrastructure, even as recent volatility in technology shares has made investors more selective.
Orders for the three-part Hong Kong dollar offering exceeded HK$24 billion (S$3.9 billion), including HK$12.78 billion from joint lead managers.
Orders for the four-part Singapore dollar offering topped S$2.5 billion, including S$790 million from joint lead managers.
Alphabet set initial yield guidance, which is an early indication of the return offered to investors, at 4.6% for the 2028 Hong Kong dollar tranche, 5% for the 2031 tranche and 5.5% for the 2036 tranche.
For the Singapore dollar bonds, initial guidance was 2.75% for the 2028 tranche, 3.25% for the 2031 tranche, 3.65% for the 2036 tranche and 4% for the 2056 tranche.
Alphabet was considering minimum sizes of HK$8 billion for the Hong Kong dollar portion and S$1.5 billion for the Singapore dollar portion. Final deal sizes and pricing were not immediately available.
HSBC and JPMorgan are joint global coordinators. For the Hong Kong dollar bonds, Bank of China (Hong Kong), ICBC and Standard Chartered are arranging the sale. DBS, OCBC and United Overseas Bank will arrange the Singapore dollar bond sale.
The bonds, which are due to settle on Nov 19 and are expected to be rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA+ by S&P, would help expand and diversify Alphabet’s geographic debt footprint.
Alphabet last week raised €6 billion (S$8.5 billion) through a euro-denominated bond sale. It also sold US$25 billion of US dollar bonds in August and A$5.5 billion ($3.8 billion) Australian dollar bonds in the same month. REUTERS
