GlobalFoundries has chosen Morgan Stanley to help it launch an initial public offering, Bloomberg reports.

The chip manufacturer is currently owned by the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, Mubadala Investment Co. The deal would value the company at around $30 billion.

Aerial photograph of GlobalFoundries Dresden
– Fensterblick

Spun off from AMD in 2009, GlobalFoundries built a steady chip fab business with the acquisition of Chartered Semiconductor and most of IBM's fab business in 2015.

But in 2018, the company said that it would cut back on less profitable fabs and said it would not pursue cutting-edge and prohibitively expensive 7nm chips.

With around a seven percent market share of the foundry business, GlobalFoundries sells its larger node chips to the mobile, IoT, defense, and automotive sectors.

When rumors first circulated that GlobalFoundries would go public earlier this year, the business was thought to be valued at $20bn.

But with an ongoing chip shortage sending semiconductor stocks soaring, and GF set to be one of the key beneficiaries of billions in US semiconductor funding, the company's valuation is likely on the rise.

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