Alphabet's first Hong Kong, Singapore dollar bond sales draw $5 billion orders

Google parent Alphabet's maiden Hong Kong and Singapore dollar bond offerings attract combined orders of around $5 billion, highlighting strong investor demand as the technology giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, according to a Reuters report.

The strong order books give Alphabet room to increase the size of its planned fundraising, even as recent volatility in technology stocks makes investors more selective about exposure to the sector, according to deal statistics seen by Reuters on Thursday.

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Orders for Alphabet's three-part Hong Kong dollar bond offering exceed HK$24 billion ($3.1 billion), including HK$12.78 billion from the joint lead managers involved in arranging the transaction.

Meanwhile, demand for the four-part Singapore dollar offering tops S$2.5 billion ($1.9 billion), including S$790 million from joint lead managers.

Alphabet set initial yield guidance at 4.60% for the 2028 Hong Kong dollar tranche, 5.00% for the 2031 tranche and 5.50% for the 2036 tranche, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters earlier on Thursday.

For the Singapore dollar bonds, the initial yield guidance stands at 2.75% for the 2028 tranche, 3.25% for the 2031 tranche, 3.65% for the 2036 tranche and 4.00% for the 2056 tranche.

The company considers minimum issuance sizes of HK$8 billion for the Hong Kong dollar offering and S$1.5 billion for the Singapore dollar portion, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Final deal sizes and pricing are not immediately available.

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HSBC and JPMorgan act as joint global coordinators. Bank of China (Hong Kong), ICBC and Standard Chartered arrange the Hong Kong dollar bond sale, while DBS, OCBC and United Overseas Bank manage the Singapore dollar offering.

The bonds are scheduled to settle on November 19 and are expected to receive ratings of Aa2 from Moody's and AA+ from S&P. The transactions will help Alphabet diversify and expand its geographic debt footprint.

The latest fundraising follows a series of debt issuances by the company as it finances its growing investment requirements. Alphabet raised 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) through a euro-denominated bond sale last week.

It also raised $25 billion through a US dollar bond offering in August and issued A$5.5 billion ($3.8 billion) worth of Australian dollar bonds during the same month.