Waymo closed a $5 billion term loan today, securing its first debt financing as it seeks to expand its fully autonomous ride-hailing business in the United States and abroad. The company says the money will help it extend that service, following a launch last month that brought its operations to a fifteenth U.S. city. Waymo also announced additional international cities last month as part of its effort to grow its commercial operations beyond its U.S. network. The loan's interest rate was not disclosed.
The borrowing is smaller than the $16 billion equity investment Waymo secured earlier this year to help expand the Waymo Driver. Waymo says adding debt to its financing mix will give it more financial flexibility and help strengthen its balance sheet as the business expands. The company describes the transaction as a step in its development into a commercial enterprise operating at greater scale, and attributes its ability to raise debt to its business momentum.
Blackstone, Sixth Street and PIMCO led the lender syndicate behind the term loan. T. Rowe Price, Capital Group and Loomis Sayles also supplied financing, with Waymo identifying those firms as significant lenders in the deal. Goldman Sachs handled the transaction as its sole lead bookrunner.
Among the additional lenders were Apollo and Fidelity Management & Research Company, alongside five other firms that participated in the financing. Waymo says the funding will support its ability to carry out its expansion plans quickly while maintaining flexibility over the long term. As it grows, the company says improving safety on roads and broadening access to transportation remain priorities for its autonomous vehicle business.
The expansion effort included plans for Sacramento earlier this year, when Waymo outlined an initial phase of manually driving electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles to learn traffic patterns and map routes. That Sacramento plan did not include a firm date for passenger service, with the preparatory driving intended to establish the groundwork for a public launch. The earlier expansion also included Dallas and Denver, where Waymo had scheduled further additions to its service network for 2026.
