(June 3): SpaceX aims to sell 555.6 million shares at US$135 ($172.77) apiece for its record-breaking US$75 billion initial public offering (IPO), Reuters reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
The report indicates SpaceX is breaking from the traditional IPO process, whereby companies typically announce a price range before marketing the shares during investor roadshows, and set the price before trading begins. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
SpaceX’s IPO is among the most closely watched public listings globally. Its rapid march to market after confidentially filing in March — and then publicly last month — comes as investors closely monitor a pipeline of potential offerings from other high-profile technology companies.
AI rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC look to forge ahead with listings of their own, while Alphabet Inc — which has its own large language models and AI infrastructure businesses — revealed plans for a record US$80 billion equity offering on Monday.
The SpaceX deal would be the largest IPO on record, more than doubling the US$29.4 billion raised by Saudi Aramco in 2019.
Elon Musk’s rocket launch, satellite and AI company is expected to disclose the terms of the offering as soon as Wednesday, start formal marketing on June 4 and price as early as June 11, Bloomberg News has reported. The timetable could still slip by a matter of days.
See also: SpaceX reserves up to 5% of IPO stock for staff and friends
The company is targeting a valuation of at least US$1.8 trillion in the offering, Bloomberg has reported.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co are leading the SpaceX offering along with 18 other banks. The company, known formally as Space Exploration Technologies Corp, expects to make its debut on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the symbol SPCX.
The fundraising comes as SpaceX negotiates to pay razor-thin fees to the Wall Street firms, though banks are still likely to rake in about US$500 million.
See also: Danish pension blacklists SpaceX over ‘catastrophic governance’
More than 1,000 current and former SpaceX employees have also joined forces to negotiate better pricing and access to sophisticated tax-saving financial products ahead of the IPO, which is poised to turn many of them into multimillionaires, Bloomberg has reported.
The group has considered more than 20 financial advisers and private banks, according to a May document reviewed by Bloomberg. The document said they were “leveraging collective power” to secure significantly lower fees for financial advice, paying less than 0.5% on all assets under management, rather than the traditional 1% fee.
Uploaded by Chng Shear Lane
