Anthropic’s initial public offering had drawn orders for multiple times the shares available by 11 November, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The demand emerged during a roadshow that began on 10 November for 825 million Class A shares at an expected $70 to $78 each, ahead of a planned Nasdaq listing, Quartz reported.
Key points
- Large, anchor-style expressions of interest have driven the reported demand, while the listing terms may still change.
- Anthropic and its co-founders could raise as much as $90 billion through the IPO and a separate private placement.
- The company is targeting a fully diluted valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion, below the roughly $1.5 trillion investors expected a week earlier.
The $70 to $78 Anthropic roadshow
Major prospective cornerstone investors account for the early indications of demand, and the offer’s conditions could change. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the offering with 20 additional banks. Anthropic expects its shares to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ANT.
At the top of the proposed range, the Class A offering could bring in as much as $64 billion before costs. That amount is the potential proceeds from the publicly offered shares. The larger $90 billion figure includes a separate sale of stock to technology companies as well as proceeds potentially going to Anthropic’s co-founders.
Quartz puts Anthropic’s target on a fully diluted basis at roughly $1.4 trillion. Investors had expected roughly $1.5 trillion a week earlier. Several large backers pressed for a lower figure after an AI stock sell-off on 5 November, the publication reported. A valuation near $2 trillion had also been under discussion several months before the roadshow.
AI Affairs previously reported Anthropic’s proposed share range and valuation target. The range sets the price at which investors are being asked to consider the offering. The reported oversubscription concerns orders placed during that process, while the final listing terms could still change.
Seven technology buyers in the $26 billion placement
The agreed private sale covers $26 billion of Anthropic Class N common stock, with the shares priced at the IPO level. The buyers are AMD, Broadcom, Google, Micron, Microsoft, Nvidia and TSMC. Their purchase sits alongside the Class A shares offered through the IPO, rather than within that public allotment.
Quartz reported that the IPO and private placement together would exceed SpaceX’s IPO in size and set a record for a stock market debut. The comparison uses the combined proceeds from two transactions. At the top of Anthropic’s price range, the potential amount raised by the company and its co-founders is $90 billion.
Some investors are passing portions of their IPO allocations to other prospective buyers. Those arrangements bring the original investors additional fees and reduce their exposure once trading starts. Holders of stakes acquired before the IPO are also pitching their holdings through special purpose vehicles, which are entities used to hold and sell an investment.
AI Affairs reported that Anthropic backers offered up to $500 million in IPO shares at a premium. It also reported the opening of an Australian retail offer ahead of the Nasdaq listing.
Anthropic targets pricing on 18 November
Anthropic is promoting the offering through investor-facing events. Its chief executive, Dario Amodei, is due to appear with JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon at a live-streamed event on 13 November. That event falls between the start of the roadshow and the planned pricing date.
Bloomberg described the offering as potentially the biggest first-time share sale ever. The reported orders have arrived before Anthropic fixes the price, and the listing terms may still change. A representative for Anthropic did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment, Quartz reported.
Anthropic plans to price the offering on 18 November and begin trading on 19 November.
