Airbnb raising another $1 billion in debt as coronavirus ravages tourism business

A week after reeling in $1 billion in fresh capital, Airbnb is raising another $1 billion in debt as it seeks to pad its balance sheet to get through the COVID-19 crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and Blackrock are participating in the financing, as well as Oaktree Capital, Apollo Global Management, Benefit Street Partners and Owl Rock Capital, said the people, who declined to be named because the deal hasn’t been made public. Bloomberg was first to report on the financing round.

Airbnb is among the many companies tied to the tourist industry that’s seen its business disappear over the past six weeks amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus. The company is refunding customers who had to cancel trips and set aside $250 million to reimburse hosts. 

Airbnb is paying about 9 percent interest on the new debt, the people said. That’s a slightly lower rate than the interest rate on the debt piece of the announced funding round from last week, which was a mix of debt and equity. For the debt portion of that financing, Airbnb is paying about 11.5%. Silver Lake is participating again after also putting money into the prior deal.

The newest round comes with a reduced rate because it’s first lien, meaning the investors will get paid out first in the event of a default. The previous financing was second lien, so investors would get paid later. The equity portion of last week’s deal valued Airbnb at $18 billion, nearly half of what the company was worth in 2017.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs advised on the transaction. 

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