Photographer: Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg
Photograph by Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg
Shares of Intel were rising more than 8% in premarket trading Tuesday after the chipmaker said it would be taking public its Mobileye self-driving-car unit.
The initial public offering of Mobileye in the U.S. is planned for the middle of next year. The move, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could value Mobileye at more than $50 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Intel (ticker: INTC) said in a press release that it will maintain majority ownership of Mobileye.
Intel shares rose 8.1% in premarket trading Tuesday to $55.12. The stock has risen just 2.3% in 2021.
Mobileye is a supplier of advanced automotive safety systems that Intel bought in 2017 for roughly $15 billion. Mobileye essentially pioneered cameras on cars to help create features such as adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance—two precursors to cars driving themselves.
Intel and Mobileye will be holding a webcast at 10:15 a.m. ET. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua will be on the call.
Intel said Shashua and the Mobileye executive team will remain with the Israeli company.
“Intel’s acquisition of Mobileye has been a great success. Mobileye has achieved record revenue year over year with 2021 gains expected to be more than 40% higher than 2020, highlighting the powerful benefits to both companies of our ongoing partnership,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger.
“Amnon and I determined that an IPO provides the best opportunity to build on Mobileye’s track record for innovation and unlock value for shareholders.”
Revenue at Mobileye roughly has tripled since Intel purchased the company, the Journal noted. It had $326 million of revenue in the third quarter, a 39% year-over-year increase.
The planned listing of Mobileye is the latest move by Gelsinger, who took charge of the semiconductor giant in February, to turn around the company. Intel has languished behind peers such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA).
Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]
