Wafer foundry GlobalFoundries aims to go public in 2022, with high hopes for the Internet of Things

The CEO of foundry GlobalFoundries said the company is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). As demand for chips for mobile phones, cars and connected devices continues to increase, a stock listing will provide GlobalFoundries with stronger financial strength to compete in the market.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield said GlobalFoundries aims to go public in 2022.

Industry analysts said that GlobalFoundries' insistence on the IPO goal indicates that the world is entering the era of the Internet of Things. Whether it is home appliances, cars or mobile phones, the demand for chips will only increase in the future. It also hopes to raise more operating funds in the fierce competition in the future. GlobalFoundries, headquartered in California, is the world's leading semiconductor wafer foundry, second only to TSMC. 

Mubadala Investment Co., the sovereign fund of the Abu Dhabi government, is the parent company of GlobalFoundries, which was established in 2009 when AMD spun off its chip production business. Mubadala subsequently acquired several chip factories to expand GlobalFoundries' production capacity.

In the past 10 years, Mubadala has invested more than US$21 billion in semiconductor production lines in Europe and the United States. Once GlobalFoundries is listed, Mubadala is expected to recover part of its investment funds.

GlobalFoundries' operating strategy is different from that of TSMC and Samsung. It does not participate in the expensive advanced process competition. However, as chip demand increases and costs are reduced, Caulfield said that GlobalFoundries' revenue this year is expected to reach $6 billion and generate more than $550 million in free cash flow.
 

GlobalFoundries hopes to improve its profits through recent strategies, which will also be beneficial to the development of the IPO. Previously, GlobalFoundries decided to abandon its expensive advanced chip process investment plan. Kleinfeld pointed out that thanks to the hot demand for chips and the company's efforts to save costs, GlobalFoundries' revenue this year is expected to reach US$6 billion and free cash flow will exceed US$550 million.

Koffed said the IPO will be a turning point for GlobalFoundries, meaning we are mature and vibrant enough to become a publicly traded company.