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Apollo Backs $36B Record Debt Deal for Anthropic TPUs

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anthropic google chips ai infrastructure ai-infrastructure private-credit chips

Key insights

  • The SPV structure keeps $36 billion in chip assets off Anthropic's balance sheet while giving lenders secured collateral backed by operating leases.
  • Broadcom's backstop on $31 billion in senior tranches is the deal's critical credit enhancement, converting illiquid used TPUs into underwritable collateral.
  • Data centers in NY, TX, LA, and IN spread the TPU cluster across multiple U.S. power grids, reducing single-point infrastructure risk.

Why this matters

Apollo and Blackstone are marketing the largest private credit deal in history, a $36 billion SPV that buys Google TPUs and leases them to Anthropic, formalizing AI compute as a financeable infrastructure asset alongside aircraft and real estate. Broadcom's residual-value backstop on $31 billion in senior tranches is the load-bearing structural element, converting an illiquid secondary market for used AI chips into a bankable guarantee that private credit lenders can underwrite. The geographic footprint spans data centers in New York, Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana, with drawdown tied to chip availability and lease commencement, making this an operating infrastructure transaction rather than a revolving line of credit. Reuters confirms investor orders are due this week and close is expected the following week, meaning Anthropic will finalize both its $65 billion Series H equity raise and its $36 billion compute debt facility within days of each other.

Summary

Apollo and Blackstone are raising $36 billion in private credit for Anthropic to lease Google-built TPUs across four US states, the largest private debt deal on record. Broadcom backstops the senior $31B tranche with a residual-value guarantee: if Anthropic defaults and chip resale falls short, Broadcom covers the gap. The deal closes days after Anthropic's separate equity round, keeping both capital structures distinct. Essentially: (Apollo, Blackstone, Broadcom) have formalized AI compute as an infrastructure asset class. - Broadcom covers residual-value risk on the $31B senior tranche. - TPUs span New York, Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana data centers. - Chip-lease debt is structurally separate from Anthropic's equity raise. Private credit is treating AI compute the way it treats pipelines: long-duration, infrastructure-grade assets with quantifiable residual value.

Potential risks and opportunities

Risks

  • If Anthropic's revenue growth stalls before 2028, it may trigger debt covenants, forcing Broadcom to honor residual-value guarantees on a large volume of rapidly depreciating TPUs.
  • A secondary market for used Google TPUs does not yet exist at scale; Broadcom's guarantee may underestimate the illiquidity discount on distressed AI chips in a forced-sale scenario.
  • Apollo and Blackstone investors face concentration risk: a single lessee (Anthropic), a single chip vendor (Google/Broadcom), and a nascent asset class with no historical default comparables.

Opportunities

  • Secondary AI hardware market platforms (CoreWeave, Lambda Labs, Vast Data) gain leverage as the implied residual-value floor on Google TPUs gets formally priced into a $36B public deal.
  • Other private credit firms (Ares Management, Blue Owl) can use this deal as a pricing benchmark to structure competing compute-lease facilities for xAI, Cohere, or Mistral.
  • Broadcom's role as residual-value guarantor positions it to capture chip remarketing fees and preferred status in future AI infrastructure debt deals at scale.

What we don't know yet

  • Lease rate and pricing terms between Anthropic and the Apollo/Blackstone SPV are undisclosed in public reporting.
  • Whether other frontier AI labs (OpenAI, xAI, Cohere) are pursuing similar private credit structures for their own compute needs is not addressed.
  • Broadcom's residual-value guarantee cap is undisclosed; what happens to its exposure if a broader AI hardware downturn makes used-TPU resale proceeds negligible is unaddressed.

What others are reporting

Coverage cluster as of 8h after publish

  1. Reuters Read →

    Reuters confirms the deal timeline: investor orders due this week, close expected the following week; also flags that both Anthropic and OpenAI are weighing 2026 IPOs as parallel context.

    Investors are being asked to submit orders this week, with the deal expected to close next week.
  2. Investing.com Read →

    Specifies the four-state data center footprint (NY, TX, LA, IN) and the gradual drawdown structure tied to chip availability and lease commencement — operational geography Bloomberg did not name.

    The borrowed funds will be channeled through a special-purpose vehicle to purchase custom Google AI chips, known as TPUs.

Originally reported by bloomberg.com

Read the original article →

Original headline: Apollo and Blackstone Seek Investors for Record $36 Billion Debt Deal to Buy Google TPUs for Anthropic