SpaceX has held meetings with banks outside the United States as it prepares for a potential initial public offering later this year. The rocket and satellite company, led by Elon Musk, is working toward a listing on an accelerated timeline.
Foreign banks met SpaceX executives at the company’s California offices in mid-January. One group included European lenders, while another consisted of firms from other regions. The discussions focused on junior roles in the underwriting syndicate and took place before SpaceX announced that it would acquire Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
Before engaging overseas lenders, SpaceX had already held discussions with major Wall Street banks. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley are expected to lead the offering. During the meetings, bankers outlined how their regional reach and distribution capabilities could support the transaction. SpaceX has not finalised the full underwriting lineup, and the structure and timing of the IPO may still change. A company representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Deal Size, Retail Participation, and Valuation
Even before the xAI acquisition, SpaceX’s IPO was on track to become the largest on record. The company could raise as much as $50 billion, a scale that would require a broad syndicate of banks. By comparison, Alibaba Group raised $25 billion in its 2014 New York listing and appointed 35 underwriters from the US, Europe, and Asia.
SpaceX is also considering reserving a significant portion of shares for retail investors. Robinhood Markets is seeking a prominent role in the offering, while Musk’s retail investor base has pushed for priority access to shares, including through shareholder proposals linked to Tesla.
A public listing would bring the world’s largest private company to public markets. The acquisition of xAI values the combined business at about $1.25 trillion, assigning SpaceX a valuation of roughly $1 trillion and xAI about $250 billion.
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