Anduril opens a $1.3bn employee tender at a $90bn valuation

Anduril is letting current and former employees sell shares in a tender offer that values the defence tech company at about $90bn. The shares are priced at $94.80 each, and the offer is capped at about $1.3bn, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

Rebecca Torrence, Edward Ludlow, Natasha Mascarenhas and Katrina Manson first reported the tender for Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the plans. Anduril declined to comment to Bloomberg. It later confirmed the tender and the $90bn valuation to CNBC. TNW has not independently verified the other details.

Open in 16 countries

The offer opened on 13 October and closes on 9 November, one of Bloomberg’s sources said. For the first time, employees in 16 countries can take part. Earlier tenders took in only staff in the US, the UK and Australia. Employees sell existing shares, and Anduril stays private.

In May, a $5bn round led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz doubled Anduril’s valuation to $61bn. The company made $2.2bn in revenue last year, according to Bloomberg. The US Defense Department is among its largest customers.

Bloomberg described tenders as an increasingly common way for startups that stay private longer to give workers cash. ElevenLabs sold shares the same way in September.

No rush to list

CEO Brian Schimpf spoke on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on 15 October. He said the tender lets Anduril give employees cash without the distraction of a moving share price.

“This allows us to stay really focused on what we need to do… which is a massive, unprecedented ramp in defense production.” Brian Schimpf, Anduril CEO, to CNBC

He told CNBC in July that Anduril was not rushing into an IPO. Co-founder Palmer Luckey has said he wants to take the company public eventually.

Contracts and Project Meridian

CNBC also asked Schimpf about Luckey’s ties to the Trump administration. On 6 October, Anduril announced a Navy shipyard contract worth up to $2.9bn. A few days earlier, the Pentagon named Luckey to Project Meridian, a group that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also joined.

Those appointments raised questions about whether executives whose companies win billions in government contracts should help shape defence strategy, CNBC reported. Luckey has given more than $500,000 to Republican candidates and groups this year. That figure comes from a CNBC analysis of federal election filings.

Schimpf said Anduril had “done incredibly well” under President Joe Biden, and called himself a lifelong Democrat. He said the Defense Department evaluates bids through a structured process.

“Everything goes through these very competitive processes, and we win based on the merits.” Brian Schimpf, Anduril CEO, to CNBC