Intel unit Mobileye prices IPO above range to raise US$861mil

Intel unit Mobileye prices IPO above range to raise US$861mil

Intel chief Pat Gelsinger defended Mobileye's decision to proceed with an IPO.

Mobileye went public in 2014 at a roughly US$5 billion valuation before being acquired by Intel for US$15.3 billion in 2017. (Wiki Commons pic)
NEW YORK:
Mobileye, the self-driving unit of chip maker Intel, raised US$861 million in an initial public offering (IPO), braving the trading volatility that has thwarted stock-market hopefuls, the company said yesterday.

Mobileye said in a press release it has priced 41 million shares at US$21 per share. The company had previously guided the IPO could be priced at between US$18 and US$20 per share.

The IPO values Mobileye at US$16.7 billion, a far cry from the US$50 billion valuation that Intel was initially hoping to achieve.

Mobileye is selling only a 5% stake in itself, less than the typical 10% to 20% stake for most IPOs. This limits the financial hit it will take as a result of its lower valuation.

US IPOs are having one of their worst years on record, with traditional offerings on track to raise the least money in over two decades, according to Dealogic which tracks listing data going back to 1995.

The Renaissance IPO index, which captures the largest and most liquid US IPOs, has slumped 51.4% this year, compared with the S&P 500 index’s drop of 19.54%.

The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, is hovering around 29.

VIX readings above 20 are generally associated with an elevated sense of investor anxiety about the near-term outlook for stocks.

Frozen markets

Hundreds of companies have postponed IPO plans this year due to volatility in capital markets. Earlier in October, grocery delivery startup Instacart scrapped its plans to go public this year.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has defended Mobileye’s decision to push ahead with an IPO, saying the listing was a way to “move (Mobileye) into the market”.

Intel will retain a large stake, including all the Class B shares Mobileye plans to issue, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Each Class B share will have voting rights equivalent to 10 Class A shares.

Mobileye reported US$854 million in revenue for the first six months of the fiscal year, up 21% from same period last year. The company posted a net loss of US$67 million.

Mobileye first went public in 2014 at a roughly US$5 billion valuation, before Intel acquired it for US$15.3 billion in 2017.

Mobileye’s shares are scheduled to start trading today on the Nasdaq under the symbol “MBLY”.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters for the offering.

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