Intel has no intention of disinvesting or spinning off its majority ownership in Mobileye, the company said in a statement, adding that it will continue to provide the automaker with technical resources.
Intel Corp said on Monday it plans to take self-driving-car unit Mobileye public in the United States in mid-2022, a deal that could value the Israeli unit at more than $50 billion. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters,
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Chip giant Intel, the largest employer of Israel’s high-tech industry with approximately 14,000 employees, retained Mobileye’s executive team and retained majority ownership in the entity following the initial public offering (IPO) of newly issued Mobileye stock. hopes to keep.
Intel has no intention of disinvesting or spinning off its majority ownership in Mobileye, the company said in a statement, adding that it will continue to provide the automaker with technical resources.
Mobileye Chief Executive Officer Amnon Shashua said in a release that the partnership continues to drive Mobileye strong revenue with free cash flow, which allows it to finance autonomous vehicle development.
“Amnon and I have determined that an IPO provides the best opportunity to build on Mobileye’s track record for innovation and unlock value for shareholders,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in the statement.
Gelsinger has been under pressure from active investors such as Third Point LLC to consider shutting down its expensive chip manufacturing operations, even as the company moved its advanced chip manufacturing operations to the United States and Europe amid global semiconductor shortages. Consideration has been given to expanding the manufacturing capacity.
Intel bought Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3 billion, putting it in direct competition with rivals Nvidia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. to develop driverless systems for global automakers.
Carmakers, including General Motors, Ford and Toyota, are racing to shift from gasoline-powered lineups to all-electric power and have made significant investments on models with features like driver-assist technology and self-driving systems. .
Mobileye, founded in 1999, has taken a different strategy from many of its self-driving car competitors, with a current camera-based system that helps the cars with adaptive cruise control and lane change assist.
The company plans to eventually build its own “lidar” sensor to help its cars map a three-dimensional view of the road and in the meantime is using lidar units from Luminar Technologies on its initial robotaxis.
Despite being owned by Intel, Mobileye has never used Intel’s factories to manufacture its chips, instead relying on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for all of its “EyeQ” chips.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Intel’s intention to list the shares.
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