By Yantoultra Ngui and Ankur Banerjee
HONG KONG, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings has raised about $5.7 billion through US dollar and offshore yuan debt offerings on Tuesday, drawing combined investor orders of more than $23 billion even as artificial intelligence spending jitters hit global markets.
The Chinese technology giant sold $1.3 billion of 10-year and $500 million of 20-year bonds in the US dollar market, alongside 20 billion yuan ($2.99 billion) of 10-year and 6 billion yuan of 30-year
offshore yuan or dim sum bonds, according to updated term sheets.
The combined order books were more than four times the final offering size. Tencent had initially been expected to raise at least $4.5 billion, a person with direct knowledge of the deal had told Reuters on Monday.
Tencent plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, according to the deal term sheet, and the latest borrowing comes as the company increases investment in AI infrastructure and products.
The sale comes as technology firms globally raise billions of dollars to finance AI investments, although investors have become more selective about companies funding costly AI infrastructure amid elevated borrowing costs.
Shares in AI suppliers faced heavy selling pressure on Tuesday as concerns grow about competition risks in the sector and rising interest rates weighing on AI-related borrowing and a spending spree.
Despite those concerns, investor demand for Tencent's 10-year and 20-year US dollar notes exceeded $7.4 billion, including $1.576 billion in interest from the joint lead managers, according to an updated term sheet issued on Tuesday.
Order books for the 10-year and 30-year offshore yuan, or dim sum, bonds exceeded 105 billion yuan, the sheets showed.
The company last tapped the bond market in June, raising about $4.66 billion through dollar- and yuan-denominated notes.
Its return to the bond market so quickly suggests capital remains available for AI, particularly for companies with strong cash flows, balance sheets and credible monetisation plans, said Allspring Global Investments portfolio manager Gary Tan.
"We are seeing a more definitive shift in sentiment around the pace of AI spending, as investors increasingly view financing availability and the cost of capital as potential bottlenecks to a further acceleration in AI investment."
Tencent has not responded to a Reuters request for comment on its debt issuance.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE DOUBLES
Shares in Tencent ended 0.1% lower on Tuesday, underperforming a rise of 0.3% in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell nearly 0.8%. Tencent's shares have fallen about 29% so far this year.
Tencent launched its $1.3 billion 10-year dollar notes at 90 basis points over comparable US Treasury notes and its $500 million 20-year notes at 115 basis points over Treasuries, tightening 25 basis points from initial guidance of around 115 basis points and 140 basis points, respectively, the sheets showed.
It priced 20 billion yuan of 10-year notes at 2.40% and 6 billion yuan of 30-year notes at 3.00%, both 50 basis points below initial yield guidance of around 2.90% and 3.50% respectively, according to the sheets.
Tencent's capital expenditure more than doubled to 96.3 billion yuan in the first half of 2026 from 45.9 billion yuan a year earlier, according to its offering documents. The spending included computing equipment, software and data centres.
The bonds are expected to be rated A1 by Moody's and A+ by S&P. Tencent is rated A1 by Moody's, A+ by S&P and A by Fitch, according to the term sheet.
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley are joint global coordinators for Tencent's dollar bond offering, the sheet showed.
ICBC (Asia), Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Construction Bank, CITIC Securities, HSBC and JPMorgan are coordinating the offshore yuan sale, according to the sheet.
($1 = 6.6937 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui in Hong Kong and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Thomas Derpinghaus and Andrea Ricci )
