Amazon.com Inc. drew approximately $126 billion in peak orders for its U.S. bond sale, a level of investor demand that places the transaction among the largest corporate debt offerings on record, according to a Bloomberg report Wednesday.
At its height, demand for the Amazon deal trailed only the roughly $129 billion of orders reported for Oracle Corp.'s bond sale last month, and stood ahead of the approximately $125 billion that the market showed for Meta Platforms Inc.'s October offering.
The company is tapping the U.S. high-grade debt market with an array of securities that could include as many as 11 separate tranches, with maturities stretching from two years out to 50 years. At the same time, Amazon is also promoting an eight-part bond sale in the European high-grade primary market.
Underwriters on the transaction include major global banks: JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are among the managers, alongside HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. The banks are marketing the multi-part sales across both U.S. and European investor bases.
The responsiveness from investors is notable in the context of rising uncertainty tied to the widening conflict in the Middle East. The report notes that demand for the offering demonstrates an ongoing appetite among investors for hyperscaler debt despite concerns about how the conflict could affect the U.S. economy.
Details on final pricing, allocations and the ultimate size of the deals were not provided in the report. What is clear from the available information is that Amazon pursued a broad, multi-tranche strategy across regions and turned to large global banks to manage distribution to the high-grade investor community.
Key data points
- Peak demand for Amazon's U.S. bond sale: about $126 billion.
- Comparative order sizes: Oracle roughly $129 billion; Meta about $125 billion.
- Structure: up to 11 tranches in the U.S. spanning two to 50 years; an eight-part sale in Europe.
- Lead managers: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Citigroup.