June 3 (Reuters) – Alphabet has increased the size of its equity offerings to $84.75 billion, in a sign of strong investor appetite for big tech companies as they expand their AI infrastructure and computing power.
On Monday, the Google parent said it would raise $80 billion, as big tech companies compete to out-build each other with AI data centers to get ahead in what executives see as a once-in-a-generation AI race.
In a filing dated June 2, Alphabet said it now aimed to raise $18 billion through the sale of Class A and C shares and $16.75 billion from depositary shares. It had earlier planned to raise $30 billion through concurrent public offerings backed by investment banks, split evenly between the two.
The company’s plans to raise $10 billion through a private placement of shares to Berkshire Hathaway and another $40 billion at-the-market offering program in the third quarter remain unchanged.
The stock offerings are set to finalize on June 4 with the depositary shares closing a day later, the company said.
Alphabet raised its annual capital spending forecast by $5 billion to between $180 billion and $190 billion in April.
The world’s largest tech companies are tapping debt markets and raising equity to bolster AI infrastructure, marking a shift for Silicon Valley firms that typically relied on cash to fund their investments.
Tech giants’ combined spending is now set to exceed $700 billion this year, up from their prior expectations of about $600 billion.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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