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JasonDoiy
Shares of Intel’s Mobileye (NASDAQ:MBLY) shot up 32% following their market debut Wednesday, with the self-driving technology unit pricing its initial public offering slightly above its previously stated range to garner a market valuation of nearly $17B.
Mobileye shares opened at $26.71 at around 11:40 a.m. ET. The stock recently changed hands at $27.69 at approximately 11:45 a.m. ET.
Earlier Wednesday, Mobileye priced 41M shares at $21 per share, raising $861M with a market capitalization of $16.7B. Underwriters were granted a 30-day option to buy up to 6.15M additional shares at the IPO price. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are serving as lead bookrunners.
The deal priced slightly higher than Mobileye’s previously stated range of $18 to $20, although Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) said earlier this week that the shares could price above $20. After the IPO, Intel still holds the vast majority of Mobileye’s stock and voting rights.
Intel’s decision to push ahead with the Mobileye IPO amid challenging market conditions had fueled speculation that the chipmaker was under pressure to raise cash to fund its business turnaround plan. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told reporters earlier this week that the company was conducting the IPO to make Mobileye a public company rather than to raise capital.
That said, Intel disclosed Wednesday, that a “significant portion” of the estimated $800M in net proceeds generated by the Mobileye IPO will be used to repay a note to Intel.
In addition to the IPO, Mobileye also privately placed 4.76M shares at the IPO price with General Atlantic, raising around $100M.
Intel bought Israel-based Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3B. The chipmaker had originally sought an IPO that would value the company at around $50B.
Mobileye first filed for an IPO in March.
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Image and article originally from seekingalpha.com. Read the original article here.