Anthropic Pursues $2 Trillion IPO with Speculative Credit Rating

Credit rating agency KBRA revealed that it assigned Anthropic a rating of BB+ in June 2026, one notch below investment grade, a rating that was not previously disclosed. This rating is tied to a $35 billion chip/compute financing led by Apollo, according to Dealroom citing the Financial Times.

The debt associated with the deal is split into two tranches: approximately $4.4 billion in subordinated debt carrying direct exposure to Anthropic's credit at a yield of around 8.5%, compared to senior debt guaranteed by Broadcom yielding 5.75%, reflecting the risk differential between the two tranches.

Anthropic is pursuing an initial public offering that could value the company near $2 trillion, according to reports, though neither the listing date nor the final valuation has been confirmed yet.

The rating indicates that debt investors view the company with a higher risk profile than investment-grade companies, even with the substantial growth in its artificial intelligence business.

What do these terms mean?

Credit Rating: An assessment provided by a specialized agency regarding a company or entity's ability to repay its debts, determining its borrowing costs.

Speculative Grade (Junk): A rating below investment grade, indicating higher repayment risk and making borrowing more expensive.

Subordinated Debt: Debt that ranks behind senior debt in repayment priority, therefore carrying a higher yield and greater risk.

Initial Public Offering (IPO): The process of listing a company's shares on a stock exchange and selling them to investors for the first time.