Anthropic wins BB+ rating from KBRA, nears investment-grade threshold

Anthropic received a BB+ credit rating, one notch below investment grade, from global credit ratings agency Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), the Financial Times (FT) reported on Oct. 17 local time.

A one-notch upgrade would put it in investment grade. It received the high rating despite disclosing only limited financial information.

KBRA assigned Anthropic an issuer rating of BB+ in June, the report said. It is the highest rung within speculative-grade ratings. After receiving the rating, Anthropic secured $35 billion in chip financing led by Apollo. The rating had not been previously disclosed.

The rating means Anthropic is close to investment grade, FT said.

An investment-grade rating can lower borrowing costs and allow a company to raise funds from a wider set of institutional investors, including life insurers and pension funds.

Investment banks that support Anthropic and rival OpenAI have sought to persuade major credit ratings firms to grant investment-grade ratings once the two companies list.

KBRA set the rating using some financial information provided by Anthropic, including first-quarter revenue, adjusted operating profit, annualised revenue and internal second-quarter forecasts. Key indicators such as free cash flow and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were not reflected in the assessment.

Anthropic said at a pre-IPO investor briefing on Oct. 14 that third-quarter revenue came to $16.8 billion, up nearly 50 percent. It also said it posted adjusted profits for a second straight quarter.