(Bloomberg) — Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has kicked off what is likely to be one of the biggest corporate bond offerings ever, in the latest blockbuster fundraising to pay for the artificial intelligence boom.
The tech giant is targeting the equivalent of about $37 billion to $42 billion in a cross-Atlantic offering in dollars and euros, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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The firm is marketing US high-grade debt in as many as 11 tranches, ranging from two to 50 years, and it seeks to raise $25 billion to $30 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are private. Initial price discussions for the longest portion of that offering — a note maturing in 2076 — involve a yield of about 1.55 percentage points more than Treasuries, one of the people said.
Amazon also targets raising as much as €10 billion ($11.6 billion) from a potential eight-part debut euro bond sale with maturities of two to 38 years slated for as early as Wednesday. It would be the most tranches sold by a company in the region.
Representatives for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co.. and Citigroup Inc., among the banks managing Amazon’s dollar-bond offering, declined to comment. HSBC Holdings Plc, which is also on the deal, didn’t immediately respond to a comment request. In a reply, Amazon pointed to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday for the deal.
Bond sales have restarted globally after US President Donald Trump hinted that the war with Iran will end soon. At least €26.9 billion of bonds are set price in Europe on Tuesday, making it the busiest day since the conflict in the Middle East started over a week ago. Debt capital markets globally slowed sharply to start March.
“Elevated volatility is slamming the issuance window shut, and with potentially record one‑day supply, dealers are hypersensitive to every tick in broader risk,” said Mark Clegg, a senior fixed-income trader at Allspring Global Investments. “Week by week becomes hour by hour.”
Amazon’s strong credit profile means its debt sale can’t be seen as representative of broader credit-market demand as geopolitical uncertainty continues to be the main factor weighing on markets, said Slawomir Soroczynski, head of fixed income at Crown Agents Investment Management.