Anthropic sent its IPO price to investment bankers. It then withdrew it for clarification.
The company had hoped to raise up to $69.3 billion, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters
Anthropic's potential valuation at its IPO has fallen from $2 trillion to $1.1–1.3 trillion, according to Bloomberg / Photo: Algi Febri Sugita/Shutterstock.com
Claude Anthropic, the developer of the chatbot, sent a copy of its IPO prospectus to investment bankers and then withdrew the pricing information contained therein, Reuters reported, citing company emails it had obtained. The prospectus stated that Anthropic intended to offer approximately 867 million shares at $70–80 per share.
Under these terms, Anthropic would have raised up to $69.3 billion, according to Bloomberg’s calculations. In terms of volume, the offering would have been nearly on par with Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO in June ($75 billion) and would have more than doubled the previous record set by Saudi Aramco ($29.4 billion). However, in a second letter, Anthropic called the pricing figures inaccurate and promised to update the prospectus later. The company declined to comment.
Potential investors are considering a valuation of Anthropic at $1.1–1.3 trillion, whereas in early October, the company’s estimated fair value reached $2 trillion, Bloomberg previously reported. The company is planning an IPO as the market assesses the implications of the U.S. midterm elections. Now that the Democrats have secured a majority in Congress, investors fear that data center construction will slow down. Market participants are also concerned about the rising debt burden of AI companies and security risks associated with AI, the agency notes.
Anthropic aims to go public before Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26 this year. Market conditions are putting the company in a “very difficult position,” Seaport Research Partners analyst Jay Goldberg told MarketWatch late last week. If Anthropic decides to postpone its IPO, it has enough cash to last at least another three quarters, but the offering “has already been postponed two or three times,” the analyst added. Lior Prosor, managing partner at venture capital firm Deep33, believes it is more likely that Anthropic will continue preparing for the listing, agreeing with the underwriters on “a slightly deeper discount” due to market volatility.
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