Alphabet raises $3.9 billion in inaugural Australian dollar bond

Alphabet, the U.S. tech giant, has issued A$5.5 billion in its first-ever Australian dollar debt offering, according to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters. The company raised the funds by selling 3-, 5-, 10- and 20-year bonds, with a coupon rate of 6.9 percent for the longest-term bond. Investor bids for the A$5.5 billion bond offering exceeded A$18 billion, indicating strong interest from global investors.

This marks the first time a U.S. large-cap tech company has issued a bond in Australian dollars since Apple did so in 2016. As tech companies allocate over $730 billion to AI spending this year, many are now diversifying their funding sources by issuing local currency bonds to reduce reliance on U.S. dollar transactions and tap into different investor pools.