Meta has opened its first sale of euro-denominated bonds, and investor demand has already set a record. Orders for the debut offering reached €53 billion, or about $59.5 billion, against a target of up to €9 billion, making it the most sought-after corporate bond deal in Europe on record. The sale, launched on Wednesday, follows a $15 billion dollar bond offering on Tuesday, and it is expected to price later in the day. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are managing the transaction.
What the sale looks like
The euro debt is being offered in six parts, with maturities from just over four years to more than 38 years. Dow Jones, citing LSEG data, puts the target at 8.25 billion euros, about $9.23 billion, across four, six, eight, 12, 18 and 38-year notes. The longest maturities stand out: Meta is asking investors to lend for nearly four decades.
The dollar leg that preceded it was a five-part offering spanning five to 30 years. Filings put $3.25 billion of notes due in 2031 at a 5.85% coupon, and another $3.25 billion due in 2033 at 6.25%. Investors placed as much as $58 billion of bids for the dollar deal, showing demand already far ahead of supply.
Meta’s total debt stood at $83.67 billion at the end of September, according to LSEG data. Dow Jones reports the euro proceeds will go to general corporate purposes, while the broader context is clear: the money funds data centres, chips and AI models. The company has guided to capital spending of $135 billion to $145 billion this year alone.
The price of AI money
Record demand has not meant cheap money. Bloomberg data shows Meta set to price its 6.26-year euro tranche at 140 basis points over mid-swaps, against 90 basis points for a six-year bond Alphabet sold on Monday. At the long end, Meta’s 18-year tranche pays 268 basis points, versus 185 for Alphabet’s 19-year tranche.
The rating agencies are watching the same arithmetic. S&P Global kept Meta’s AA- rating but moved its outlook to negative, citing uncertainty around heavy capital spending and negative free cash flow. Meta burned about $2.12 billion of cash in the third quarter, leaving little room for error if AI revenues arrive slowly.
Meta is not borrowing alone. Alphabet sold €6 billion of bonds on Monday with an order book above €17 billion, and Microsoft returned to the bond market in October with a $25 billion AI war chest. The pattern is consistent: the largest technology companies now fund the AI build-out with debt as well as equity.
Why It Matters
The euro debut matters because it opens a second funding currency for Meta. A borrower that can raise dollars and euros on demand is less exposed to any single market, and a record order book in an unfamiliar currency signals strong institutional appetite. It also builds a European investor base for future deals.
The deal also sits alongside an even larger funding push. Days earlier Meta expanded plans for what could become a $97.5 billion equity raise backed by chipmakers Nvidia and AMD. Debt and equity together now form the financing spine of Meta’s AI ambitions, and their balance will shape shareholder risk if returns disappoint.
Our read
Our read is that the headline flatters Meta slightly. A record order book is a demand story, not a pricing story, and the spreads tell the harder truth: investors want Meta paper, but only at a premium to Alphabet. That premium is the market’s verdict on Meta’s cash burn and its heavier AI bet.
What to watch now is the final pricing and size. If the euro leg lands near or above its €9 billion target, Meta will have raised at least $20 billion across the two legs in two days. CreditSights analysts advise investors to leave room for future tech deals at possibly better prices.
Background
Meta last tapped the investment-grade bond market in April with a $25 billion sale that drew peak demand of $96 billion, so this week’s reception is not isolated. The difference now is scale and urgency: equity, dollars and debut euros are being raised within days to pay for an infrastructure programme of unusual size.
Source: Reuters report and Dow Jones update.
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