By Anne Morris

US chip giant Intel intends to retain majority ownership of Israel-based connected car tech company Mobileye after an IPO.

More than four years ago, Intel raised some eyebrows when it acquired Mobileye for a fairly hefty $15.3 billion. Now, the chip giant is aiming to take the connected car specialist public in the United States during 2022 — in a deal estimated to be worth more than $50 billion.

No surprises, then, that Pat Gelsinger, the CEO of Intel, has described the acquisition of Mobileye as a “great success”.

“Mobileye has achieved record revenue year-over-year with 2021 gains expected to be more than 40% higher than 2020, highlighting the powerful benefits to both companies of our ongoing partnership,” said Gelsinger.

Intel does intend to retain majority ownership of the company, which was founded in 1999 and specialises in driver-assistance and autonomous driving solutions. Founder Amnon Shashua will also remain as Mobileye’s CEO. Furthermore, Intel indicated that recently acquired Moovit as well as Intel teams working on lidar and radar development will be brought into Mobileye.

Mobileye has been here before: it went public in 2014 before being acquired by Intel in 2017. Intel currently owns 100% of Mobileye shares and “has no intention of spinning off or otherwise divesting its majority ownership interest.”

Shashua boasted that Mobileye has nearly tripled annual chip shipments, revenue and the number of employees since the Intel acquisition.

“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. Intel and Mobileye’s ongoing technology co-development will continue to deliver great platform solutions for our customers,” Shashua said.

Intel, referencing Roland Berger Computer of Wheels and McKinsey, also noted that the share of semiconductors is expected to be 20% of a premium vehicle’s total bill-of-materials (BOM) by 2030^.

Gelsinger said: “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.”

Intel and Mobileye have been working together for a while now, having announced a partnership in early 2016 as well as another tie-up with BMW. In the third quarter of 2021, Mobileye announced partnerships with ZEEKR and Sixt SE.