Tencent eyes $4.5 billion bond sale amid AI funding push, source says

By Reuters News
FILE PHOTO: The Tencent logo at the company's headquarters during a government‑organised media trip in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/File Photo

By Roshan Thomas and Yantoultra Ngui

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Tencent 0700.HK plans to raise at least $4.5 billion through a sale of US dollar and offshore yuan bonds, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the Chinese technology giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence.

The sale is expected to be similar in size to Tencent's $4.66 billion bond offering in June, though the final amount has not been set and could change with market conditions and investor demand, the person said.

The Shenzhen-headquartered company has also yet to finalise the size of each maturity tranche, said the person, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.

Tencent did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The potential deal follows a wave of technology company fundraising for AI. SoftBank raised $11.1 billion in bonds in September to fund its push into OpenAI, while Chinese AI developer Z.ai raised $5 billion through new shares and convertible bonds.

But investors have become more selective about companies seeking to fund AI infrastructure buildout, with higher interest rates and bond yields affecting appetite.

Nvidia-backed Australian AI data center operator Firmus this month shelved a planned $5 billion initial public offering after drawing weak demand.


CAPEX DOUBLED

Tencent's capital expenditure more than doubled to 96.3 billion yuan ($14.4 billion) in the first half of 2026 from 45.9 billion yuan a year earlier, according to a stock exchange filing on Monday. The spending covered IT infrastructure, including computing equipment, software and data centres.

Tencent said on Monday it proposes to issue notes under its global medium-term note programme and will provide potential investors with recent corporate and financial information related to the offering.

The proposed offering comprises senior unsecured notes denominated in US dollars and offshore Chinese yuan, according to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters.

Tencent may sell 10-year and 20-year US dollar bonds, as well as 10-year and 30-year offshore yuan bonds, subject to market conditions, according to the sheet. The company has not set a deal size.

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley are leading the dollar offering. ICBC (Asia), Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Construction Bank, CITIC Securities, HSBC and JPMorgan are leading the yuan tranche, the sheet showed.

Banks are expected to arrange investor calls later in the day ahead of the potential offering, according to the sheet.

Tencent said completion of the note issue depends on several factors, including market conditions, corporate funding needs and investor demand, and that no binding agreement has been entered into.


($1 = 6.6930 Chinese yuan)

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