Apollo and Blackstone Arrange $36B Debt Deal to Lease Google TPUs
Blackstone and Apollo Global Management are structuring a $36 billion debt financing to acquire Google’s custom TPUs and lease them to Anthropic in four U.S. states. Broadcom will back the largest tranches while the SPV syndicates $36 billion of notes in stages tied to chip deliveries and lease starts.
1. Debt Financing Structure
Apollo and Blackstone are creating a special‐purpose vehicle to raise $36 billion of debt financing for the upfront purchase of Google’s custom tensor processing units. The SPV will lease those TPUs to Anthropic for use at data centers in New York, Texas, Louisiana and Indiana, facilitating AI infrastructure expansion without Anthropic carrying the debt on its balance sheet.
2. Note Tranches and Support
The financing is structured into approximately $6 billion of A1 notes, $25 billion of A2 notes and $4.5 billion of B notes. Broadcom provides residual value support on the largest tranches, guaranteeing coverage for noteholders if chip resale proceeds fall short following any default.
3. Funding Stages and Distribution
Drawdowns on the debt will occur in stages tied to chip deliveries and lease commencement milestones. Apollo and Blackstone intend to syndicate the full $36 billion of notes to external investors, with order books open this week and a closing anticipated next week.
