Amazon raises £4 billion in debut sterling bond sale
What's the deal? Amazon raised £4 billion (about $5.43 billion) from its first ever sterling bond sale on Wednesday, according to a bank managing the deal. The four-part offering drew more than £12 billion in demand, split across 3-, 6-, 12- and 19-year bonds raising £1 billion each.
Why now? Hyperscalers are rushing to diversify funding sources to finance the AI boom. They have issued more than $200 billion of debt this year, more than double the total for all of 2025, according to LSEGDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → data.
What's the endgame? The pound is the latest currency Amazon has added to its funding programme, following the euro, Swiss franc, and Canadian dollar bond markets. Spreading issuance across markets lets the company raise capital wherever it can given its heavy funding needs.
The bonds will price at spreads of 53, 75, 90, and 93 basis points over corresponding British government bonds, according to a memo from the lead manager seen by ReutersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What could go wrong? Investor appetite is showing strain. The sterling deal is Amazon's first bond sale since July, when a $25 billion offering drew weaker demand than in the past — one of several signs that the heavy pace of hyperscaler borrowing is testing the limits of investor demand.
The European Central BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → warned earlier in September that hyperscalers' push into the euro zone bond market could crowd out other borrowers and push up their financing costs.
The signal: At £4 billion, the raise ranks among the largest post-IPO debt deals in its sector and geography, sitting in the 97th percentile of 377 comparable rounds. Amazon follows AlphabetDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which became the first hyperscaler to tap the sterling market in February with a £5.5 billion five-part deal that included a rare 100-year bond — a sign that the funding needs of the AI race now reach far beyond the US dollar.
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