Scottish Mortgage Sells Shares at a Premium as SpaceX's Record-Breaking IPO Looms

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust sells 6.2M shares above net asset value in two days, ahead of SpaceX's record $1.77T IPO and its own ex-dividend date, showing confidence amid market selloff.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has tapped its treasury twice in as many days, placing shares above net asset value — a clear signal that investor appetite for the trust remains strong even as global equity markets convulsed. On 1 June, it placed 2.35 million shares at 1,516.50 pence apiece, followed by a second tranche of 3.85 million shares at 1,545.42 pence the next day. After both transactions, roughly 1.12 billion shares are in circulation, leaving a buffer of some 369 million treasury shares for future placings.

The timing is no coincidence. The two placements come less than two weeks before Elon Musk’s SpaceX is scheduled to go public on 12 June, an event that carries enormous weight for Scottish Mortgage’s concentrated private portfolio. The trust has long held SpaceX as a cornerstone holding, and the IPO is expected to be the largest in history, with management targeting a valuation of up to $1.77 trillion. Investor demand is said to be running at about $150 billion — double the planned issuance volume. The issue price is set at $135 per share, underpinned by a narrative that extends beyond rockets and satellites into space-based data centres, a theme that has been pitched to investors as the next chapter in artificial intelligence.

Yet the euphoria is not universal. Independent analysts peg the fair value closer to $1.3 trillion, arguing that current revenue does not fully justify the AI-infused projections. Index provider S&P has also thrown cold water on the hype, declining to grant SpaceX an early entry into its benchmarks; the stock will have to wait the standard twelve months. The Nasdaq 100, by contrast, will admit the stock after just 15 days of trading.

The week ahead is packed for Scottish Mortgage itself. On 11 June, one day before the SpaceX debut, the trust’s shares will trade ex-dividend. Meanwhile, another private behemoth is lining up: the AI company Anthropic is also preparing its own IPO, with the trust’s management reportedly eyeing a valuation of nearly $1 trillion for that listing.

Scottish Mortgage’s share price has had a turbulent ride of late. After touching a year-to-date high of €19.50 in late May, it has slipped more than 12% to close at €17.10 on Friday. That session alone saw a decline of nearly 4%, and the broader market was brutal: a stronger-than-expected US jobs report triggered a selloff that erased about $1.8 trillion from the S&P 500 in a single day. Over the past week, Scottish Mortgage shares have shed roughly 5%, though the year-to-date gain remains a robust 23%.

The fact that the trust could still place stock at a premium during such market turmoil is telling. Trusts are permitted to sell treasury shares only when the market price exceeds net asset value — otherwise existing holders would be diluted. This premium confirms that the market continues to value Scottish Mortgage above its underlying asset worth, a vote of confidence amid the noise.

Where the fresh capital will be deployed remains to be seen. The trust, which runs a concentrated portfolio of both listed and unlisted growth companies with low ongoing charges and no performance fees, typically holds cash back for new opportunities. The next portfolio update should reveal whether these proceeds have been steered toward the SpaceX IPO, the looming Anthropic offering, or another holding entirely.