EVwire brief: Waymo has closed a $5 billion term loan, its first-ever debt financing, as the Alphabet-owned robotaxi company looks to fund its expansion across the US and abroad.
Pimco, Blackstone and Sixth Street led the loan as syndicated lenders, while Capital Group, Loomis Sayles and T. Rowe Price came in as significant lenders, according to Waymo. Goldman Sachs served as the sole lead bookrunner.
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The deal ended up much larger than planned. Bloomberg News previously reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Waymo initially aimed to borrow over $3 billion, and that the final loan priced at 5.25 percentage points above the benchmark rate.
This means that Waymo is tapping debt markets for the first time, after funding its growth through equity so far. Earlier this year, the company raised $16 billion in a round that valued it at $126 billion. The new capital comes as Waymo's AI costs climb alongside the size of its driverless fleet.
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Context:
Waymo's US expansion has picked up pace this year. The company launched service in Las Vegas in July, with Denver, San Diego and Tampa up next, and earlier this week began fully driverless testing in Detroit ahead of its first riders there. In Nashville, Lyft riders can now be matched with Waymo robotaxis.
Outside the US, Waymo is targeting public rides in Munich in late 2027 and fully autonomous rides in Singapore in 2028. The company has also set a goal of 1 million paid weekly rides this year, and recently revealed a custom 5nm chip inside its Ojai robotaxi.
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