{"text":[[{"start":14.65,"text":"Elon Musk’s SpaceX is seeking to raise $40bn in a financing effort led by Apollo Global Management to purchase Nvidia chips as the AI and rocket group amplifies its bet on the chipmaker’s advanced technology."}],[{"start":28.75,"text":"The company is seeking to raise about $10bn in bank loans and $30bn in investment-grade debt to fund its blockbuster chip order, according to people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":40.95,"text":"Private capital group Apollo is expected to lead the deal and help sell the debt to a broad base of investors. Bond group Pimco was among a small group of lenders in talks to fund the deal, the people said. The transaction is expected to close in 2027. "}],[{"start":56.7,"text":"SpaceX’s financing plans underscore the vast sums that are being raised to pay for investments in data centres, chips and other infrastructure underpinning AI."}],[{"start":66.8,"text":"Insurance and pension funds would be able to buy SpaceX’s debt due to its BBB credit rating, the second-lowest investment-grade ranking. Such funds take much more limited positions in junk-rated notes. "}],[{"start":79.45,"text":"Apollo and Pimco declined to comment. SpaceX and Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "}],[{"start":87.3,"text":"The deal would strengthen ties between SpaceX and Nvidia, after Musk vowed to double down on the group’s technology for his AI initiatives. It would also mark a win for Nvidia, as it contends with growing competition from chipmakers aiming to challenge its dominance in advanced semiconductors. "}],[{"start":105.94999999999999,"text":"“We’ve decided to build exclusively on Nvidia because we think the Vera Rubin architecture is the best architecture,” Musk said during SpaceX’s earnings call in August, referring to Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI platform. "}],[{"start":118.14999999999999,"text":"“We think it’s the best AI computer, and we greatly value our close co-operation and partnership on many levels with Nvidia.”"}],[{"start":126.3,"text":"SpaceX secured an investment-grade rating shortly after its $86bn initial public offering in June. It sold $25bn in high-grade bonds less than two weeks later. However, the bonds sold off in the following days due to concerns over its mounting debt and heavy capital expenditure."}],[{"start":145.65,"text":"Its bonds maturing in 2056 are trading at about 85 cents on the dollar, with a yield at about 2.27 percentage points above US Treasuries, similar to the level of junk bonds, according to MarketAxess data. "}],[{"start":159.8,"text":"Musk’s limited financial disclosures have kept some investors away from SpaceX debt in the past. "}],[{"start":167.10000000000002,"text":"Investors who SpaceX has previously approached about financing its multibillion-dollar chip purchase said they only received a short two-page deal memo with pictures of outer space and an arrow pointing out that the company was going to build data centres “somewhere in the universe”. "}],[{"start":182.75000000000003,"text":"“How are we supposed to take that to the IC?” one of the people said, referring to the in-house investment committee that approves transactions. "}],[{"start":191.60000000000002,"text":"Apollo has made lending to high-grade companies a pillar of its $800bn credit business, leading multibillion-dollar financing transactions for groups such as Intel and Bayer. Its life insurance and annuities affiliate Athene typically buys are a large portion of these offerings."}],[{"start":209.40000000000003,"text":"Apollo also led a $35bn chip financing deal in June for processors made by Nvidia rival Broadcom, marking the largest private credit transaction at the time."}],[{"start":219.70000000000005,"text":"In August, Nvidia announced that it was working with some of the largest firms on Wall Street on a $500bn funding platform, signing memorandums of understanding with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR. "}],[{"start":235.85000000000005,"text":"The consortium aims to create pools of third-party capital to finance the acquisition of Nvidia’s chips and broader build-out of AI infrastructure at lower borrowing costs for its smaller clients, with Nvidia potentially backstopping up to 25 per cent of the chip value. "}],[{"start":260.75000000000006,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791337502_5746.mp3"}