Anthropic plans IPO share sales in Japan and Australia

Anthropic plans to raise as much as $3.5 billion from Japanese investors and to sell new shares to Australian retail investors as part of its U.S. initial public offering. The plan would let ordinary investors in several countries outside the United States buy shares at the IPO price.

Nikkei reported on Nov. 2 that the Japanese offering is laid out in a securities registration statement filed with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau. It is expected to be the largest public offering ever made in Japan as part of a foreign company's IPO, The Asia Business Daily reported. Mizuho Securities will manage the Japanese portion, and Mizuho Financial Group ↗ 1.12% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group ↘ 0.23% are among the deal's underwriters, according to The Economic Times. Investors can also apply through Goldman Sachs Securities, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, Rakuten Securities and SBI Securities. The shares will be sold under the "POWL" method, which means they are offered without a listing on a Japanese exchange.asiae.co.kr+1

No ASX listing

Commonwealth Bank of Australia's broking arm, CommSec, said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that it will be the lead Australian retail broker if the IPO goes ahead. It added that Anthropic will not apply to list on the Australian Securities Exchange ASX Limited, Reuters reported. Anthropic's own notice to investors names eight Australian firms for the offer: Bell Potter, CommSec, LGT Wealth, Macquarie, Morgans, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Sharesies and Stake. The new shares would be sold under a prospectus that Anthropic will lodge with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The notice also lists retail offerings in Canada, the U.K., Switzerland and nine European Economic Area countries.thestar.com.my+1

The Australian allocation has not been disclosed, The West Australian reported. Investors cannot apply until the prospectus is released and the offer formally opens.thewest.com.au+1

A test for AI valuations

The maker of Claude filed its S-1 on Oct. 26 to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market ↗ 1.40% under the ticker "ANT." The filing names Goldman Sachs ↗ 0.44% and Morgan Stanley ↗ 0.25% first among its underwriters. The company has not yet disclosed how many shares it will sell or at what price. The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 1.64% reported that the offering could raise $100 billion or more, with trading possibly starting the week of Nov. 16.dw.com+2

Investor appetite may be cooling. Some current and prospective investors are now considering a $1.5 trillion valuation, down from about $2 trillion, after Anthropic shared financial details at a recent investor event, Reuters reported. The company has $895.4 billion in AI infrastructure spending commitments and expects to spend nearly half of that by the end of 2030, which adds to investors' concerns before the debut.thestar.com.my