Anthropic Nears Finalizing $15 Billion Pre-IPO Credit Facility

(Bloomberg) -- Anthropic PBC is set to finalize expanding its revolving credit facility to $15 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, clearing a hurdle before the artificial intelligence firm's public filing for its highly anticipated IPO.

Morgan Stanley is leading the process, the people said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also have prominent roles on the facility, along with Citigroup Inc., they said. The four lenders are also leading the IPO, Bloomberg News has reported.

The Claude chatbot maker is seeking to raise as much as SpaceX or more in the initial public offering, people familiar with the preparations have said. Companies typically finalize the revolver before they notify banks of their formal roles in a listing.

Barclays Plc and Wells Fargo & Co. are also expected to have key roles on the loan, the people said. Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Royal Bank of Canada, and UBS Group AG are also high in the credit facility's lineup, they said.

Generally, in syndicated loans, the higher the commitment of a bank, the higher the fees it gets paid by a borrower. When a large capital markets transaction is expected, a higher ranking in a loan is likely to correspond to a more active role in the upcoming deal.

Bank of Montreal, BNP Paribas SA, Credit Agricole SA, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Toronto-Dominion Bank are also on the so-called revolver, the people said.

The credit facility would exceed the company's roughly $10 billion target, Bloomberg News reported in August.

Anthropic had asked the most active banks leading the credit line to lend about $1.25 billion each, with the next level of active banks being encouraged to offer around $1 billion, and with the commitments dropping to roughly $750 million and lower for less active roles, Bloomberg reported.

Details of the loan could still change, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. Representatives for Anthropic, JPMorgan, Barclays, Wells Fargo and UBS declined to comment. The other banks didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.