GloFo to IPO at a $20bn valuation

Preparations are going ahead for a $20 billion IPO of Globalfoundries, reports Bloomberg.

GloFo’s owner, the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co of Abu Dhabi, is reported to be talking to potential advisers for the float.

CEO Tom Caufield has indicated that the company would go public in 2022.

The current chip shortage, a market expected to grow 13% this year, extensive US government support for the semiconductor industry and high stock prices could encourage an earlier public offering.

Mubadala subsidiary ATIC took over AMD’s fab stable in 2008 in a series of transactions totalling about $1 billion. In 2009, ATIC bought Chartered Semiconductor of Singapore for $1.8 billion and merged it into GloFo.

In 2014, GloFo acquired IBM’s semiconductor business.