Alphabet eyes inaugural Australian dollar bond, bookrunner's message says (updated)

Royal Bank of Canada

17/08/2026 04:31

Adds details from paragraph 3
By Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Alphabet GOOGL.O has mandated investment banks to work on its inaugural Australian dollar bond issue, according to a message sent by one of the book runners and reviewed by Reuters on Monday.
The U.S. tech giant is considering issuing 3-, 5-, 10- and 20-year bonds, it said.
The message did not outline how much Alphabet could raise in the transaction or its plans with the proceeds.
Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The 3- and 5-year bonds could be issued with fixed or floating rates, the message said, while the 10- and 20-year bonds would be issued with fixed rates.
Alphabet raised $25 billion in dollar bonds earlier in August following an almost $85 billion equity capital raising in June.
Global tech companies are increasingly looking to capital markets to fund their massive AI spending, after having typically relied on their large cash reserves to fund investments.
The firms are ⁠expected to spend more than $730 billion this year primarily on AI, and the outlay is already squeezing cash flows. Alphabet posted its first ever negative free cash flow in its second-quarter report in late July.
Local currency bonds are becoming increasingly popular among some of the world's biggest issuers as they look to diversify their reliance on dollar bond transactions.
"Kangaroo" bond sales from foreign issuers in Australian dollars are at a record high of around A$60 billion ($42 billion) so far this year, up roughly 40% from 2025, LSEG data tracking internationally placed deals to late July shows.
ANZ, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities are joint lead managers on the Alphabet transaction, the book runner's message said.


 (Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sonali Paul)
 ((Scott.Murdoch@thomsonreuters.com;))