Expanding financing channels for huge AI investments Meta (META.US) contacts European bond investors or enters the non-dollar bond market for the first time

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as the boom in artificial intelligence drives capital support for large technology companies to continue to rise, tech giants are increasingly turning to different global bond markets to find sources of financing. According to people familiar with the matter, Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms (META.US) has been doing non-trading roadshows with bond investors in Europe for at least a week. As a result, the market is concerned about whether the tech giant may enter the bond market other than the US dollar for the first time.

People familiar with the matter said that Meta did not disclose the exact timing of the potential bond issuance during this investor meeting. Currently, the market generally anticipates that Meta may issue bonds again in the future, but this European roadshow does not mean that the company has officially decided to finance locally.

Non-transactional roadshows usually involve companies holding talks with investors without officially starting bond issuance to introduce their credit status, latest performance, development strategies, and future prospects, while also providing an opportunity for investment analysts to communicate with management. Unlike formal bond issuance appointments, such roadshows do not guarantee that companies will eventually enter the relevant market for financing.

If Meta finally chooses to issue bonds in Europe, it will be somewhat iconic. Meta has never issued debt outside of the dollar bond market before. The company's most recent public dollar bond financing was in April of this year, when it raised $25 billion through a six-part bond offering. As Meta explores the European bond market, the world's largest cloud computing and technology companies are speeding up the expansion of financing channels other than the US dollar to raise capital for large-scale AI and data center investments.

This week, Amazon (AMZN.US) entered the British pound bond market for the first time, raising 4.25 billion pounds (about 5.75 billion US dollars) through the issuance of four-part bonds, making it one of the largest corporate borrowers in the local market. Previously, Amazon also entered the Eurobond market for the first time and completed the largest Euro-denominated corporate bond transaction in history. At the same time, it also successively entered the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar bond markets. Among them, the scale of issuance of Canadian dollar bonds also set a record.

Alphabet (GOOGL.US) is also actively seeking capital in the global bond market this year. The company has successively entered the euro, pound, yen, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, and Australian dollar bond markets, indicating that large technology companies are obtaining more diversified funding sources for AI infrastructure construction by expanding their financing currencies and investor base.

In addition to traditional unsecured corporate bonds, Meta is also funding data center projects through a number of off-balance sheet financing arrangements.

However, as the scale of AI infrastructure financing rapidly expanded, investors' ability to bear related debts also began to receive attention. Previously, when BlackRock issued related corporate bonds for Meta's data center project in Texas, market demand was weaker than normal, and the final bond yield was over 7.5%.