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Telegram has raised $1.7 billion through a five-year convertible bond offering, using the bulk of the proceeds to buy back existing debt while setting aside funds to support operations and expansion.
Of the total raised, $955 million will go toward repurchasing bonds due in 2026, according to Bloomberg. The remaining $745 million will give the messaging platform additional liquidity as it scales its business.
The new bonds give investors the option to convert into equity if Telegram goes public before maturity. In that case, the notes would convert at a 20% discount to the IPO price.
Telegram’s tender offer closed on May 28, with settlement expected by June 5. The deal attracted both returning backers—such as BlackRock and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala—and new names including hedge fund Citadel.
The bonds carry a 9% coupon, up from the 7% attached to Telegram’s $2.35 billion bond sale in 2021.
Telegram now boasts more than 1 billion users globally. The company crossed $1 billion in annual revenue last year and holds more than $500 million in cash, not including crypto holdings, Bloomberg said.
CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris in August as part of an investigation into Telegram’s role in allegedly enabling illegal activities. However, he insisted that Telegram had gone beyond what was legally required in content moderation and crime prevention. “There is nothing our billion-strong community can’t overcome,” he added.
The CEO reassured users that Telegram’s core principles remain unchanged. The company continues to balance local legal compliance with its mission to protect activists and ordinary users from oppressive governments or corporations, ensuring that criminals cannot exploit the platform.
Pavel Durov confirmed in October that the platform has been disclosing IP addresses and phone numbers of criminals to authorities since 2018.
Durov added that this process is not new, stating that Telegram has long responded to properly formed legal requests from authorities across most countries. These disclosures are made when users are involved in criminal activities, aligning with Telegram’s privacy policies.
For instance, in Brazil, Telegram fulfilled 75 legal requests in Q1 2024, and in India, its largest market, the company satisfied 2461 legal requests in the same period.
