Blackstone now expects Anthropic to get a high 'junk' credit rating after its IPO, FT reports

Blackstone, the anchor investor in a recent $63 billion deal to finance Anthropic's chips, has told investors in that deal that it expects Anthropic to receive a "high" junk rating from credit agencies after its initial public offering. TechCrunch reports this, citing the Financial Times. Blackstone now expects a rating in the double-B range, the top tier of speculative grade. Blackstone had previously said the opposite: that Anthropic would get an investment-grade rating, which signals low risk for lenders, before 2027. Anthropic and Blackstone both declined to comment to TechCrunch. The forecast is a prediction, not a rating issued by an agency. Still, a junk-grade rating would make it harder and more expensive for Anthropic to borrow money for the large compute deals it has signed over the past year. Those deals have worried some investors. The report comes days after Anthropic filed publicly to list on Nasdaq. That filing showed Amazon's $6.2 billion in convertible notes as the company's entire debt load. Prospective shareholders and lenders weighing the offering now face a less favorable outlook on its borrowing costs.