Intel plans to take Mobileye, the advanced driver assistance and automated driving subsidiary it acquired for $15 billion more than four years ago, public next year.
Spinning Mobileye out into a separate publicly traded company could increase value for Intel shareholders, its parent company said in an announcement that went out late Monday. A source told TechCrunch the IPO is expected to take about six months, a timeline that suggests it has not yet started the typical IPO roadshow process.
A source familiar with Intel’s plans to list shares of Mobileye told Reuters the unit could be valued at more than $50 billion. The Wall Street Journal first reported Intel’s intent to sell shares of Mobileye.
“Intel will remain the majority owner of Mobileye, and the two companies will continue as strategic partners, collaborating on projects as they pursue the growth of computing in the automotive sector,” according to a statement from the company.
Intel said it will hold onto its majority ownership interest, with no intent to spin off or divest at all. A final decision on the IPO still needs to be reached, and is subject to market conditions, but as the majority stakeholder, Intel’s plan is to continue to fully consolidate Mobileye.
Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua will continue to lead the same executive team. Intel teams working on lidar and radar development will be aligned under Mobileye, as will Moovit, an Israeli trip planning app that was recently acquired by Intel, according to the 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 percent higher than 2020, highlighting the powerful benefits to both companies of our ongoing partnership,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a statement. “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.”
Since its acquisition in 2017, Mobileye has been able to triple annual chip shipments, revenue and headcount, according to Shashua.
“Our alignment with Intel continues to provide Mobileye with valuable technical resources and support that has yielded strong revenue along with free cash flow that allows us to fund our AV development work from current revenue,” said Shashua.
The news comes only a few months after Mobileye agreed to partner with car rental giant Sixt to launch a robotaxi service in Germany next year. This year, the company has scaled autonomous vehicle testing programs to multiple cities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including New York City, and says it has secured 41 new advanced driver assistance system program wins across more than 30 automakers. It also plans to 35,000 purpose-built driverless delivery vehicles with Udelv by 2028, and has secured multiple deals for mobility-as-a-service programs in 2023.