By Echo Wang<\/p>\n
March 13 (Reuters) – SpaceX and the banks underwriting its blockbuster IPO have chosen two law firms to provide legal advice on the deal, one of \u200cthe first concrete steps companies take when preparing a public listing, two people \u200cfamiliar with the plans said.<\/p>\n
Elon Musk’s rocket-and-satellite company has hired Gibson Dunn to represent it throughout the process, according to \u200bone of the people, while the banks underwriting the deal have chosen Davis Polk & Wardwell, both people said. They asked not to be identified because the process is confidential.<\/p>\n
The confidential filing could come as soon as this month, one of the people said. A public listing of SpaceX at \u200ca hoped-for valuation of $1.75 trillion would \u2060make it one of the most highly valued companies in the world, and give public investors their first chance to buy shares in Musk\u2019s \u2060closely held space company.<\/p>\n
SpaceX, Gibson Dunn, and Davis Polk did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
For a company, hiring its own legal advisers typically comes before it formally picks which investment banks will lead \u200bthe IPO. \u200bLos Angeles-based Gibson Dunn advised SpaceX on its \u200bacquisition of xAI.<\/p>\n
A successful SpaceX IPO could \u200cbe one of the most lucrative public offerings ever for the banks on the deal.<\/p>\n
The company has also been interviewing banks, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley for leading roles for the IPO, Reuters previously reported.<\/p>\n
SpaceX acquired Musk’s privately owned social media and artificial intelligence<\/a> company xAI in early February in a deal that brought Musk\u2019s rockets, Starlink \u200csatellites, the X social media platform and Grok AI \u200bchatbot under one roof, Reuters previously reported. It valued \u200bthe combined company at $1.25 trillion at the \u200btime.<\/p>\n