Yahoo Finance Volvo Cars confirms Sweden IPO
Volvo Cars, owned by Chinese company Geely, intends to once again float on the stock exchange after 20 years with a listing in Sweden later this month.
Its shares will begin trading at the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange on 28 October.
The company said it will offer shares at 53 Swedish kronor to 68 kronor each in a move that is expected to raise nearly $3bn and value the automaker at up to $2bn.
The initial public offering (IPO) is set to be Europe’s largest since January, as per data compiled by Bloomberg.
Geely, which bought Volvo Cars in 2010 from Ford (F), had indicated to banks and investors earlier that it was preparing an IPO. it will continue as the Swedish company’s main owner.
Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said the company was looking for small private investors in Sweden to take an opportunity to buy shares of Volvo Cars.
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"I think we have a very strong interest especially from the Nordic investors," he told a news conference.
The carmaker has ambitious goals to sell only full electric cars by 2030. It hopes to use funds from the IPO to boost its car-making capacity so it can nearly double annual sales to more than 1.2 million vehicles.
It also has plans to construct a battery plant in Europe.
“We have a very clear strategy to be an electric company in 2030 and we’ve been on that journey for some years now,” said Samuelsson.
“With this, of course, we can secure that transformation, because of course, it’s not free of charge.”
In 2018, Volvo postponed IPO plans due to trade tensions and a decline in automotive stocks. Reportedly investors were said to be shocked at its valuation expectations of as much as $30bn.
Meanwhile, electric-car maker Polestar, owned by Geely and Volvo, last month said it will go public by merging with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at an enterprise value of $20bn.
Watch: What is a SPAC?
