Elon Musk’s SpaceX goes public next week in what is expected to be the largest IPO in history. It will be roughly two and a half times the size of Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing, the previous record, which also involved a company bound up with a powerful, eccentric oddball’s sweeping ambitions for his country’s economy and politics.
As Jack Derwin reported, SpaceX has filed its Australian prospectus ahead of its expected 12 June Nasdaq debut, with local retail investors able to apply through CommSec. Macquarie Securities is acting as local coordinator, while Gilbert + Tobin is in line for a $1.8 million payday as local legal adviser.
The Aussie filing is really just a window into the broader market machinery of this thing, and it’s quite something to behold. SpaceX is raising USD75 billion ($105.2 billion) while floating less than 5% of the company at a target valuation of USD1.75 trillion. Musk will keep about 42% of equity and 85% of votes. The retail allocation, at 30% of the float, is far higher than your typical megacap IPO.
The local prospectus describes the investment as “highly speculative”, which is about the closest thing to straightforward honesty you will find within spitting distance of this IPO.
