Alphabet Arranges First Hong Kong Dollar and Singapore Dollar Bond Issues
Key Facts
Alphabet plans to issue bonds for the first time in Hong Kong dollars and Singapore dollars, according to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters, which published details on Wednesday, November 11. The potential offering would mark the company’s entry into the Hong Kong and Singapore bond markets in those currencies. The term sheet shows the proposed deal is a dual-currency issuance of fixed-rate, senior unsecured bonds. Reuters did not report a final size for the offering in this report. Estimates published the previous day indicated potential sizes for the two tranches, but they remained under discussion.
Alphabet appointed HSBC and J.P. Morgan to coordinate the offering as joint global coordinators, according to the term sheet. The mandate indicates that preparations for the potential issue have entered an organizational phase involving work with two global banks on its structure. The proposed notes would be fixed-rate, unsecured and senior, according to the report. The unsecured designation means the bonds are not backed by specific asset collateral, while seniority refers to their rank among the company’s obligations. The issuance remains potential, as the term sheet tied its specifications to an offering that may take place later.
If issued, the bonds are expected to carry ratings of Aa2 from Moody’s and AA+ from S&P, in line with Alphabet’s ratings as an issuer. These assessments place the proposed issue among instruments from a highly rated company, Reuters reported, citing the term sheet. The ratings do not guarantee that the offering will be completed, as they remain contingent on an actual issuance. The report also provided no details on the yield or final pricing of the Asian bonds. So far, the published information on their terms is limited to the currencies, structure and expected ratings.
The Hong Kong dollar tranche may comprise fixed-rate bonds with maturities of two, five and 10 years, according to the term sheet. The proposed structure would give investors a choice of different maturities within the same tranche. But the inclusion of these maturities remains subject to market conditions, the report said. The source did not specify the maturities of the Singapore dollar tranche in the available information. It also did not state the interest rate or the size of each maturity.
The move comes amid Alphabet’s activity in international debt markets during 2026. According to Bloomberg, the company issued its first Australian dollar bonds in August and also offered notes in Swiss francs, pounds sterling, Canadian dollars and Japanese yen during the year. It also issued 6 billion euros of euro bonds across seven tranches on November 2, with demand exceeding 17 billion euros, according to Reuters. On November 9, EL7 reported that the company was considering an Asian offering of two tranches with a potential combined value of up to the equivalent of 3 billion dollars. These issues show borrowing across multiple currencies and markets, without establishing a specific reason for choosing the current Asian offering.
Alphabet’s businesses include Google Search, YouTube, the Android operating system, the Chrome browser and Google Cloud, and the company is among the highest-rated corporate borrowers and a regular issuer in the U.S. dollar bond market, according to Reuters. Bloomberg reported that proceeds from the potential Asian issuance would be used for general corporate purposes. Alphabet responded to a request for comment from Bloomberg by saying it "does not comment on market speculation." The company’s shares closed at 287.38 dollars on November 10, according to EL7 data. The available data did not include a verified closing price for Apple or Meta shares that day.