Intel plans to take self-driving car unit public in the U.S. in mid-2022



Amnon Shashua, CEO of Mobileye, poses with a Mobileye driverless vehicle at the New York site of the Nasdaq Market.

Intel acquired Mobileye for $15.3 billion in order to branch out into new markets.

Mobileye will go public in the US in mid-2022 via an initial public offering of newly issued stock.

The listing will create value for Intel shareholders, who have seen their share price fall from $68 in April to less than $50 in December. The majority shareholder of Mobileye will be it.

Mobileye was founded in Jerusalem in 1999 by Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram. The company develops technology for other manufacturers.

It has partnerships with many companies over the years. It signed a deal with Ford to support its next generation of advanced driving and safety features. Ford uses Mobileye's "EyeQ"camera-based detection technologies for features such as forward collision warning and for vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist detection.

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, said that the acquisition of Mobileye will increase revenue by 40% in 2021.

The best opportunity to build on Mobileye's track record for innovation and unlock value for shareholders was determined by Gelsinger and Amnon.

The Mobileye listing is a return to the stock market for the company, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the summer of 2014).

The acquisition of Mobileye was considered expensive because of Intel's recent revenues of just $400 million. Since the Mobileye takeover, the valuations of self-driving car companies have gone up. Both Cruise and Waymo are worth over $30 billion.

When Intel acquired Mobileye, it had a market value of $10.6 billion. It is not clear what kind of valuation Intel will try to achieve for Mobileye.

After the news, Intel's stock rose 8% in after market trading on Monday, climbing from around $49 to $51.

The share price of Intel has struggled this year, while other chip firms, including Taiwan's TSMC and graphics chip designer Nvidia, have seen their stock soar.