Nucera seeks up to EUR 566m in proceeds from IPO

German industrial group Thyssenkrupp (ETR:TKA) and its Italian partner Industrie De Nora today set the price range for the initial public offering (IPO) of their hydrogen joint venture Nucera at between EUR 19 and EUR 21.50 per share, pursuing gross proceeds of up to EUR 566 million (USD 621.8m).

Thyssenkrupp, which owns 66% of the joint business, said that a total of 30.26 million Nucera shares will be offered, including 26.3 million newly issued shares. As many as 3.95 million existing shares will be proposed in a potential over-allotment.

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The offering has already attracted two new investors. BNP Paribas Asset Management UK Limited (BNPP) has committed to buying shares in the IPO for the aggregate amount of up to EUR 85 million.

The second new investor is Energy Solutions Company (ESC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has also pledged to purchase shares equal to 6% of the company's share capital after the closing of the offering.

Based on the pursued price range, the IPO should generate proceeds from new shares of between EUR 500 million and EUR 566 million. The sum will be invested in the electrolysis business, Thyssenkrupp said.

The price range values Nucera at between EUR 2.4 billion and EUR 2.7 billion.

The offer period is expected to start on June 26, running until July 5. The first trading day is planned for July 7.

Following the IPO, Thyssenkrupp will continue to hold a majority stake in Nucera, with De Nora remaining its long-standing partner.

“We are on track and believe that thyssenkrupp nucera, with its attractive business model and technology to produce green hydrogen on a large scale, is ready to launch its IPO,” Thyssenkrupp Nucera's CEO Werner Ponikwar commented in the statement.

Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are acting as joint global co-ordinators of the deal. Joint bookrunners are Commerzbank, Societe Generale as well as UniCredit.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.098)