SoftBank Group’s $40 billion bridge loan backing its investment in OpenAI has drawn a fresh group of 21 lenders as the financing moves into a broader syndication phase, according to people familiar with the matter. FinancialMediaGuide views the rapid expansion of the lender group as a sign that global banks remain eager to gain exposure to the AI boom even through complex, indirect financing structures rather than direct equity stakes.
The new group of banks has been allocated around $7 billion of the facility in total, the people said. Of that, First Abu Dhabi Bank, GIC and Standard Chartered Bank have each taken a nearly $1 billion share, while the remainder was allocated to a mix of European, Japanese and Taiwanese lenders. The number of new lenders was calculated at the parent level of each institution, since some are joining across more than one branch.
The remaining $33 billion of the bridge loan is still held by underwriters and senior lenders, though it may be syndicated further, the people said; distributing loans from initial lenders to a broader group is standard practice for financings of this size. FinancialMediaGuide suggests that the pace of syndication so far indicates underwriters are finding steady demand for exposure to OpenAI-linked credit risk, even without a direct equity stake in the company itself.
Signed in March, the 12-month loan ranks among the largest-ever bridge financings arranged anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region and is expected to generate more than $100 million in fees for its underwriters alone. The facility had already attracted nine new banks before entering general syndication in May, despite concerns among some bankers about SoftBank’s concentrated exposure to a single company, OpenAI, which faces growing competition from rivals including Anthropic.
The bridge deal carries an initial interest margin of about 250 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, translating to an interest rate of roughly 6.14% at current SOFR levels. FinancialMediaGuide frames that pricing as a meaningful premium over typical investment-grade corporate borrowing, reflecting the scale and concentration risk lenders are taking on by financing a single company’s stake in a single AI lab.
SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son has pledged to go “all in” on OpenAI, with total commitments now exceeding $60 billion across multiple funding rounds and this bridge facility combined. OpenAI filed for a public listing last month and was valued at $852 billion in a fundraising round in March, a figure that underpins the collateral value lenders are relying on across the syndicated facility.
SoftBank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and GIC all declined to comment on the syndication. Financial Media Guide reads the willingness of more than 30 institutions across multiple continents to take a slice of this single loan as one of the clearest signs yet that mainstream global banking, not just venture capital, now has direct financial exposure to how OpenAI’s valuation holds up.
