SpaceX and the banks preparing to underwrite its prospective initial public offering have each chosen law firms to advise on the transaction, according to two people familiar with the process. Those people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the preparations remain confidential, said SpaceX retained Gibson Dunn to represent the company, while the underwriting banks have engaged Davis Polk & Wardwell as their legal counsel.
One of the people said a confidential filing related to the offering could be made as soon as this month. The planned listing is being pursued at a targeted valuation of $1.75 trillion - a figure that, if realized, would position SpaceX among the most highly valued publicly traded companies globally and offer outside investors their first opportunity to acquire shares in the closely held space enterprise.
Representatives for SpaceX, Gibson Dunn and Davis Polk did not respond to requests for comment.
Sequence and strategic advisers
For corporations preparing to go public, appointing independent legal advisers typically precedes the formal selection of lead investment banks. In this case, the appointment of Gibson Dunn to represent SpaceX is a preliminary but important procedural step in the IPO process. The firm previously provided counsel to SpaceX in connection with the company’s acquisition of xAI.
Davis Polk, which will advise the underwriting syndicate, is based in New York and has a track record on some of the largest U.S. IPOs, including work on Uber and Arm Holdings. The firm has also placed highly in capital markets league tables compiled by Bloomberg and LSEG.
Underwriting lineup and potential returns
People familiar with the company’s preparations said SpaceX has been interviewing major global banks for leading underwriting roles. The group of banks being considered includes Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. If the offering proceeds at the envisaged valuation, it could rank among the most lucrative public offerings for the banks involved.
SpaceX’s corporate structure and recent transactions are central to market attention. In early February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI in a deal that brought together Elon Musk’s rockets, the Starlink satellite constellation, the X social media platform and the Grok AI chatbot into a single entity. That combination was valued at $1.25 trillion at the time of the transaction.
Wider IPO context
The calendar for public listings this year includes several sizable potential offerings in the artificial intelligence sector. The Financial Times reported that Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is advising Anthropic, while The Information reported that Cooley and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are working with OpenAI. These developments underscore a broader pipeline of large deals that could affect capital markets activity.
How the SpaceX process unfolds - from confidential filings through bank selection and regulatory review - will determine timing and the ultimate terms of any public offering. For now, the selection of Gibson Dunn for the company and Davis Polk for the banks represents a concrete set of steps as SpaceX positions itself for a potential debut on public markets.