SpaceX has fixed the price of its initial public offering (IPO) at $135 per share, marking a significant departure from the traditional Wall Street process of determining share prices through consultations with institutional investors.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to Reuters, the aerospace and satellite communications company founded by Elon Musk disclosed the price in an amended IPO filing on Wednesday, roughly a week before the offering is expected to be finalised. The company is seeking to raise $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO ever, valuing the firm at approximately $1.75 trillion.
If achieved, the valuation would place SpaceX immediately among the 10 most valuable publicly traded companies in the United States.
The company is scheduled to begin its investor roadshow on Thursday, while the final pricing of the offering is expected on June 11. Trading of the shares on the Nasdaq is anticipated to commence the following day.
Reuters noted that the decision to publicly disclose the IPO price before the roadshow has few precedents among major U.S. listings and underscores Musk’s influence among investors keen to secure a stake in the company.
SpaceX has also broken with convention in other aspects of the offering, including plans to allocate a larger portion of shares to retail investors and efforts to secure early inclusion in major stock market indices while preserving strong founder control.
“Nothing about this IPO is normal in any course or sense, but then again this is the largest IPO in history so maybe that is not surprising,” an investor planning to participate in the offering told Reuters.
Reuters further reported that some investors had pushed for a valuation closer to $1.5 trillion, below the company’s target valuation of $1.75 trillion. The company is also said to be considering allocating as much as 30 per cent of the offering to individual investors, significantly higher than is typical for major IPOs.
Final pricing for the historic offering is expected on June 11.
