Intel's Self-Driving Company Mobileye Files for IPO With an Expected $30 Billion Valuation

Mobileye, a self-driving tech company owned by Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), has just filed for IPO with the SEC under the symbol MBLY. According to the prospectus shared with the SEC, Intel is planning to list Class A common shares while retaining ownership over Class B stocks. Class B stocks have ten times more votes than their Class A counterparts, so this will enable Intel to retain complete control over board decisions.

While there isn’t any information about the initial price or number of shares, it is being reported that Intel is expecting a valuation of $30 billion. This is significantly lower than Intel’s initial $50 billion target.

Mobileye has collaborated with auto manufacturers like BMW (OTC: BMWYY), GM (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F), and Audi and is famously known for its “EyeQ SoC (System-on-Chip),” which is being used by 50 companies in 800 models for lane-keeping, drive-assistance, and self-driving. Professor Amnon Shamshua founded Mobileye in 1999 and Intel acquired Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3 billion. The Mobileye drive is a network of 6 radars, 3 long-ranged and 6 short-ranged lidars, and 11 cameras linked together via an EyeQ chip.

The filing also depicted a consistent growth in revenue from $878 million in 2017 to $1.3 billion in 2021. In this same period, losses have also dropped from $328 million to just $75 million. Mobileye is also planning to enter the self-driving vehicle industry as it is launching a robotaxi brand this year in Germany and currently testing autonomous vehicles in New York. Also, Mobileye is in discussion with Geely, an auto manufacturer from China to launch autonomous vehicles in the region.

Intel wants to reinvest the IPO investments in expanding the domestic chip manufacturing ecosystem throughout the United States. Until now, Intel has invested over $20 billion in a chip manufacturing plant in Arizona and another $20 billion in Ohio to create a whole chip manufacturing ecosystem. The company has already become a huge name in the self-driving industry this IPO is aimed at helping it further broaden its horizon.

Intel has been planning to launch this IPO since last year and It is going to be one of the largest IPOs of the year 2022. So far, only 2 companies have managed to raise more than $1 billion on the New York exchange. In the words of the CEO Pat Gelsinger, “Amnon [Shashua] and I determined that an IPO provides the best opportunity to build on Mobileye’s track record for innovation and unlock value for shareholders”