Goldman and Apollo seek buyers for SpaceX chip-financing debt

Goldman and Apollo begin marketing pieces of the deal

According to Yahoo Finance’s report of Bloomberg’s story, Goldman Sachs Group and Apollo Global Management are in discussions with Wall Street investors about selling portions of SpaceX’s roughly $40 billion chip-financing arrangement. The people described in the report said the two firms have started contacting possible buyers for the multi-tranche package.

Size, timing, and syndication plans

The article says the financing is designed to keep the debt off SpaceX’s balance sheet. SpaceX has described it as the largest deal of its kind for GPUs on record. People familiar with the matter said some investors are being asked to take slices of as much as $500 million before the official syndication process begins. The same people said the firms want to close the transaction quickly, and that syndication is expected to begin soon.

No comment from the firms or SpaceX

Bloomberg reports that representatives for Apollo and Goldman declined to comment. A SpaceX representative did not respond to a request for comment.

October announcement and market risk

The article says Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence venture announced the financing in October, and investors agreed to the package before it priced. That left lenders exposed to market swings during a volatile period. The report says investors have pulled back from the AI trade, raising doubts about whether revenues can justify the spending, and that this has affected lenders’ appetite for some SpaceX competitors, including CoreWeave Inc.

Political backdrop and market reaction

Bloomberg says those concerns grew after Democrats won control of Congress in the midterm elections. The article links that shift to voter anger over higher living costs and the war in Iran. It also says data centers became a campaign issue, especially in Texas, which flipped blue just months after pausing approvals for new projects. As the political environment changed, the market reacted sharply and shares of both SpaceX and Tesla Inc. fell. The report says SpaceX’s data centers are in Memphis, Tennessee, and that it is also building other sites in Mississippi.

How the structure works

Under the deal, Bloomberg says, a special-purpose vehicle managed by Apollo-backed Atlas SP will buy Nvidia Corp. chips and issue the debt held by lenders. The report says this structure helps protect SpaceX’s corporate credit ratings.