Intel’s Mobileye Raises $861m In Nasdaq IPO

Intel owned autonomous vehicle firm Mobileye Global has enjoyed a successful public listing on the Nasdaq that has raised at least $861m.

Reuters reported that its shares rose 30 percent in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, valuing the firm at $21.8 billion.

It should be noted that this comes after a turbulent period for the firm. Last week Intel said to be eyeing a valuation under $20 billion.

Public listing

In the end Intel lowered the IPO valuation of Mobileye even more than expected to be priced between $18 and $20 per share, valuing Mobileye at just $15.9 billion.

That is well below the expected $50 billion valuation when Intel first announced in December 2021 its intention to take its Mobileye unit public.

This lower valuation reflected the depressed IPO market, amid high interest rates, inflation, and investor worries over a potential global recession.

Now Mobileye has listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker “MBLY”.

“The valuation probably wasn’t what we wanted it to be. But there was a lot of value in gaining that public company platform now,” Dan Galves, chief communications officer at Mobileye was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Galves added it is important for Mobileye to generate product visibility now as that filters back to customers.

Mobileye sold only a 5 percent stake in itself, less than the typical 10 to 20 percent stake for most IPOs.

Intel remains the majority owner of the firm, and the two companies will continue as strategic partners, collaborating on projects as they pursue the automotive sector.

Mobileye, founded in 1999, builds chips, hardware and software for self-driving cars and advanced safety features such as lane-keeping and driver assistance.

Mobileye has partnerships with car makers such as Audi, BMW and Volkswagen, and its technology is currently in 800 vehicle models, it said in the filing.

Second listing

Intel had signalled its intention to compete in the autonomous vehicle sector back in 2017, when it carried out the biggest tech takeover in Israel’s history, with the $15.3 billion acquisition of Mobileye.

And it should be noted that this is the second time that Mobileye has braved the public markets.

Mobileye originally went public in 2014, but returned to private ownership when it was acquired by Intel in 2017.

In February this year it was reported that Mobileye planned to work with partners to build and deploy self-driving electric shuttles in the US in 2024.

Executives consider electric shuttles a way for Mobileye to expand its automated driving system beyond taxis and delivery vehicles.