general_info_on Volvo Cars

About Volvo

Volvo Cars is an automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles, station wagons, hatchbacks, sedans, and compact executive sedans. Its headquarters are in Gothenburg, Sweden.

It is regarded as one of the most innovative carmakers in the world. From the introduction of the first side-airbag in 1994 to the blind-spot monitor presented ten years later in 2004, Volvo cars have kept their historic reputation for safety, solidity, and reliability.

The company is owned by Geely – a Chinese multinational automotive entity – which reportedly is likely to remain the largest shareholder after the IPO.

IPO Figures

Volvo Cars is set to go public on the Nadaq Stockholm stock exchange on October 29, aiming to raise up to 20 billion crowns ($2.3 bln). The shares that will be available for trading are expected to account for up 24% of the company’s total shares. The final IPO price is of 53 SEK per share.

October 29 IPO marks Volvo’s second attempt to become a publicly traded company. In 2018, Geely abandoned the idea because of fears that a trade war between the US, Europe, and China would harm the company’s valuation. At that time, it was believed that Volvo Cars could fetch a $30 billion valuation for the brand.

Valuation

Over the years, Volvo acquired two companies in September and October 2017: Luxe, and Garantibil, respectively, tapping into the automated peer-to-peer marketplace for used cars.

Volvo Cars is expected to be worth up to 200 billion SEK ($23.1 billion) after the IPO.

Basic info about Volvo

• January-September 2021 operating profit (EBIT) rose to 16.6 billion SEK from 3.6 billion in the year-ago period
• Volvo is aiming for annual sales of 1.2 million cars, up 56% from the 770,000 it sold in the 12 months to June 20, 2021
• The carmaker is also targeting an operating margin of between 8% - 10% by 2025

Sources: apnews.com, Bloomberg.com, crunchbase.com, reuters.com, investor.volvocars.com