Technology giant Intel plans to use funds from the planned stock offering of its Mobileye self-driving-vehicle components unit to build more Intel chip plants, CEO Pat Gelsinger said.
The IPO will allow Mobileye to grow more easily as global automakers spend billions of dollars to accelerate their transition to electric and self-driving vehicles, Gelsinger said.
"This is the right time," he said on a conference call on Tuesday. "This is a unique asset and we're going to make the right moves to fully realize that potential."
Gelsinger said Intel will retain a majority stake in Mobileye and will also receive "the majority of the proceeds" from the IPO. He declined to specify the size of the stake that would be sold or a fundraising target, but said that "certainly it will be helpful in our overall aggressive buildout of plants."
Intel has said it plans to build two chip plants in Arizona, and add other plants in the U.S. and Europe at sites that have not been announced.
A microchip shortage has afflicted industries globally including the auto sector. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration wants Congress to approve $52 billion to expand U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.
Mobileye, an Israeli company that Intel bought for about $15 billion five years ago, could be valued at more than $50 billion during its U.S. IPO in mid-2022, a source previously told Reuters.
Gelsinger said that value would be set closer to the IPO and he declined to say how much of Mobileye will be sold, repeating Intel would retain a majority stake.
