Helena Soderpalm, Nick Carey

STOCKHOLM/LONDON – Geely-owned Volvo Cars intends to raise 25 Billion Swedish Crowns ($2.9B) via an Initial Public Offering (IPO), according to the Swedish automaker. This would make it one of Europe’s largest listings.

Volvo stated that it would list this year on the Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange and that Geely Holding, its Chinese shareholder, will remain its largest shareholder.

Geely and Volvo Cars held 8.2% of Sweden’s Volvo Trucks. In 2018, they postponed plans for a floatation.

Volvo Cars is convinced that it has a unique structure and an enlightened strategy, making it one of most powerful transformers within the global auto industry. It also plans to devote mid-decades to sustainability, electrification and digitalisation. In a statement, the Swedish company stated.

Volvo is committed, along with many others car manufacturers, to switching all of its cars to electric models by 2030.

Volvo stated that it aims to achieve an operating margin between 8%-10% by 2025. The company also targets annual sales of 1.2million cars by 2025, an increase 56% on the 770,000 vehicles it sold between June 20 and now.

ELECTRIC PUSH

Carmaker stated that it expected 50% of all sales of fully-electric cars to occur by the middle decade, and that half of those sales will come from online sales rather than dealerships.

Volvo Cars earlier Monday stated that the global component shortage had caused a 30% drop in sales for September compared with a previous year.

Sources informed Reuters that Geely had been in discussions with banks last month to list the Swedish company within the coming weeks. They were aiming at a valuation of around $20 billion.

Volvo Cars previously stated that it had been considering listing Stockholm in the second half 2021.

Volvo spokeswoman on Monday stated that they had not made any comment about the valuation of the business or how much would be sold during the IPO.

She said that there will be more information about the prospectus.

Polestar is an electric-car manufacturer owned by Geely, Volvo and Guggenheim Partners. Last week, it announced that it would go public through a U.S. listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), backed by Alec Gores, a billionaire, and Guggenheim Partners, with an enterprise value valued at $20 billion.

($1 = 8.7236 Swedish Crowns