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Chipmaker GlobalFoundries prices IPO at upper end to raise $2.6 billion -sources

By Anirban Sen, Krystal Hu and Echo Wang

(Reuters) - Chipmaker GlobalFoundries Inc on Wednesday sold shares in its initial public offering at $47 a piece, at the higher end of its targeted price range, to raise about $2.6 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

The IPO gives GlobalFoundries a valuation of about $26 billion, making it one of the biggest stock market flotations of the year in the United States.

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co, which holds a majority stake in GlobalFoundries, sold 22 million shares in the IPO.

Funds associated with BlackRock Inc, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, some affiliates of Koch Strategic Platforms LLC, Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC and Qualcomm Inc invested over $1 billion in the IPO.

A spokesperson for GlobalFoundries said the company is waiting to finalize the details and declined to comment on the IPO price.

The IPO comes at a time when demand for chips has sky-rocketed due to a global shortage that has forced automakers and other electronics firms to cut production.

Strong demand for chips has boosted revenue at GlobalFoundries over the past 12 months and helped it cut back losses.

One of the marquee listings of 2021, which included Coinbase Global Inc, Robinhood Markets Inc and Coupang Inc, GlobalFoundries and electric vehicle maker Rivian are headlining a particularly busy year-end for U.S. IPOs.

The company was created when Mubadala bought Advanced Micro Devices Inc's manufacturing facilities in 2009 and later merged it with Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.

GlobalFoundries, which makes radio-frequency communications chips for 5G, automotive, and other specialized semiconductors, counts AMD and Broadcom Inc among its customers.

GlobalFoundries is the world's third-largest foundry by revenue behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, but ranks second when factoring out Samsung's foundry business that makes chips for other elements of the South Korean firm.

GlobalFoundries will list its shares on Nasdaq on Thursday under the ticker 'GFS'.

Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters for the IPO.

(Additional reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Aurora Ellis)