Amazon prepares first-ever sterling bond sale as 2026 borrowing tops $80B

Amazon.com ↗ 1.61% is preparing to sell bonds denominated in British pounds for the first time, adding yet another currency to what has become a historic year of borrowing for the tech giant.

The company has mandated JPMorgan Chase ↗ 0.52%, Barclays ↗ 0.85%, HSBC ↘ 5.70%, and NatWest Group ↘ 1.29% to manage the deal, which is expected to launch as soon as Wednesday, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter. The offering will include tranches ranging from three years to 19 years.bloomberg+1

A Year of Record Borrowing

The sterling bond marks the latest stop on what has been a global tour of debt markets for Amazon in 2026. The company kicked off the year with a record €14.5 billion euro bond sale in March — the largest corporate deal ever in the currency — followed by a $37 billion U.S. dollar offering around the same time. In May, Amazon tapped the Swiss franc market for the first time, and in July it raised another $25 billion through a U.S. dollar bond sale.cnbc+4

Together with bonds issued in Canadian dollars and other currencies, Amazon's total debt issuance for 2026 has surpassed $80 billion, according to multiple reports. The borrowing binge is part of a broader trend among tech companies racing to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure. Amazon, Alphabet ↗ 0.84%, Meta ↘ 1.64%, and Oracle ↗ 3.55% collectively issued roughly $194 billion of bonds through early July, up 79% from all of 2025, according to a Reuters analysis of LSEG data.primexbt+2

Funding the AI Buildout

Proceeds from Amazon's bond sales have been earmarked for general corporate purposes, a category that encompasses capital projects, debt repayment, and investment in AI and cloud services. The company has committed to roughly $200 billion in capital expenditures for the 2026 fiscal year, driven largely by the expansion of data centers for its Amazon Web Services cloud division.reuters+2

The sterling deal's size and pricing have not yet been publicly confirmed. When Amazon issued its $25 billion bond offering in July, CNBC reported the company said it would not issue more U.S. dollar debt for the remainder of the year — but the sterling sale represents a different market and currency altogether.cnbc