Broadcom's Hock Tan reportedly sweetened terms to keep banks in Anthropic's $63 billion deal

The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that Broadcom CEO Hock Tan agreed to higher interest rates and gave banks greater comfort on Broadcom's loss guarantees, keeping them inside the $63 billion financing for Anthropic's chips. The coverage available shows no confirmation from any of the companies involved.

What is reported

According to the Journal, as relayed by Benzinga, some banks grew anxious about joining the effort, codenamed "Project North Star," over the past few weeks. With interest rates rising and AI ventures harder to finance, some felt they were not being paid enough for the risk and considered pulling out altogether.

Then came the weekend. Tan reportedly held 11th-hour talks with bank executives and agreed to higher rates, and the banks got more comfort on Broadcom's guarantees against losses if Anthropic defaults. A report on the deal says Tan had spent nearly two months trying to get banks to commit more than $40 billion.

The deal underneath

The financing, as we reported earlier, has Bank of America, Blackstone, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley committing $63 billion. A newly formed special purpose vehicle buys Broadcom's XPU accelerators and networking gear and leases them to Anthropic, with deliveries expected to begin in 2027. Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley are arranging the first-lien portion, Blackstone is the sole provider of the committed second-lien debt, and Broadcom is providing "residual value support" for the first-lien amount.

Timing is the footnote worth reading. On Monday, Anthropic publicly filed for an IPO, with a Nasdaq listing under the ticker ANT. The Journal reported a target debut the week of Nov. 16, raising $100 billion or more at a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion.

What is not known

• The new interest rates, and the old ones they replaced.
• What "more comfort" on guarantees means in contract terms.
• How much Blackstone has committed to the second-lien tranche.
• Maturity schedules for either loan facility.

The response so far is silence. Broadcom, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

The story is plausible on its face. A borrower that needs the money sweetens the terms, and the reporting does not disclose the revised rates. Until someone does, the account rests on reporting about weekend talks, attributed to people familiar with the matter.