Anthropic's IPO slips to a listing just before midterms

Anthropic is expected to begin marketing its initial public offering in mid-October at the earliest and to complete the listing days before the U.S. midterm elections in November, a deal some investors have said could reach $2 trillion. People familiar with the matter described the revised schedule on Friday, according to a report by CNBC.

At a glance

• The IPO prospectus, once expected to become public as early as next week, is now unlikely to appear before late September, and two of the people said that filing opens the offering's final stage.
• Anthropic is working to finalize a $15 billion revolving credit facility before analysts, including those at banks involved in the financing, meet the company, according to one person familiar with the process.
• SpaceX went public in June at a record $1.77 trillion valuation, and a listing at the $2 trillion some investors have discussed would rank among the largest ever attempted.

The date matters as much as the delay. Completing a listing in the final days before the midterms leaves little room to slip again without running into the vote, and it puts pricing in a week when the market's attention is elsewhere. The sequencing also reads as a marker for the rest of the sector, since whatever Anthropic prices at becomes the number other AI offerings, OpenAI's among them, are measured against.

The prospectus is now expected in late September, not next week

The IPO prospectus had been expected to become public as early as next week, two of the people said, the step that opens the final stage of an offering. That document is now not expected until late September, according to the people familiar with the schedule.

Marketing to investors would then begin in mid-October at the earliest, which would put the listing days before the November vote. The people familiar with the plans cautioned that the timing could still change. Companies frequently adjust IPO schedules as they work through market conditions, regulatory reviews and other preparations, so such changes are not unusual.

Anthropic wants a $15 billion revolving credit facility in place first

As part of the IPO process, Anthropic is looking to finalize a $15 billion revolving credit facility, one person said, after which analysts, including those at banks involved in the financing, are expected to meet with the company. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Anthropic was in talks to expand the facility to $15 billion.

Companies typically leave a few weeks between the analyst meetings and making the prospectus public. Anthropic is expected to have a tighter window because the analysts already know the company well, one person said. A revolving line of that size is normally syndicated across several banks and can be drawn and repaid repeatedly rather than taken as a single term loan.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citi are among the banks on the deal

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citi are among the banks working with Anthropic on the IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. The offering is expected to be one of the most closely anticipated ever, as investors look to public markets for exposure to the AI industry.

The listing could come alongside potential offerings from other AI companies, including OpenAI. At the size investors have discussed it would be a test of public-market appetite for the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry. Elon Musk's SpaceX went public in June at a record $1.77 trillion valuation.

Publication of the prospectus normally starts the formal marketing period, when underwriters take a company to institutional investors before pricing and the first day of trading. On the schedule now described, that period for Anthropic would open in mid-October and run into the final days before the midterms.

What has to happen before mid-October

On the schedule described, the credit facility is settled first, the analyst meetings follow, and the prospectus becomes public in late September. No exact date has been given for the filing, for the start of marketing or for the listing itself, and no valuation range or offering size has been reported.