Anthropic has offered Blackstone a 10% coupon on part of a proposed $60 billion chip-financing package, with the total return rising above 10% after discounts and fees, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Blackstone-managed funds would invest about $9 billion, according to the report. That would cover half of an $18 billion junior-loan tranche backed by Anthropic's five-year lease payments on the chips. Blackstone declined to comment, while Anthropic did not immediately respond to the FT. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.
How Project North Star is structured
The package, known as Project North Star, would finance Anthropic's acquisition of about 1.5 gigawatts of tensor processing units developed by Google. The reported plan also includes about $42 billion of senior debt guaranteed by Broadcom, which helps develop the chips with Google.
The proposed deal has not closed, and the FT said the remaining $9 billion of junior debt would be offered to a broader group of investors in the coming months, potentially at a lower yield.
Why the borrowing cost stands out
The FT said borrowers with a similar credit profile typically pay about 7% in public bond markets, based on the ICE BofA BB US High Yield Index. Four months earlier, Anthropic sold about $4.4 billion of debt in a similar financing at an 8.5% interest rate.
The FT said the higher borrowing cost reflects investors' demand for larger risk premiums as technology companies seek vast amounts of capital for AI infrastructure. For Anthropic, the financing would provide a costly route to the specialized chips needed to expand its computing capacity.
