Hydrogen subsidiary on the stock exchange
Thyssenkrupp Nucera starts above issue price
07/07/2023 11:18 am
The industrial group Thyssenkrupp is sending its hydrogen division onto the floor. It is Europe’s second largest IPO of the year so far. Investors value the company at more than 2.5 billion euros. Two anchor investors are to ensure stability.
The Thyssenkrupp subsidiary Nucera, which specializes in hydrogen technology, has made its stock market debut. The first price on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was EUR 20.20 on Friday, which was above the issue price of EUR 20. Then it went further up to 21.78 euros. The company is valued at around 2.5 billion euros. There was a burst of relieved applause on the floor when the first course was announced. Thyssenkrupp stock rose more than 3 percent.
Nucera offers the technology for electrolysis plants that can be used to produce hydrogen on an industrial scale using electricity from renewable energies. “We gave them entrepreneurial freedom, and now it’s become a billion-dollar company,” said ThyssenKrupp CEO Miguel López on Nucera’s IPO. Thyssenkrupp will remain a long-term shareholder.
Nucera wants to use the proceeds from the IPO primarily to expand the electrolysis business. Thyssenkrupp reduced its stake from 66 to 50.2 percent. 24 percent of the shares are in free float after the IPO. However, 39 percent of the issue volume of 605 million euros went to the two anchor investors, a fund of the French bank BNP Paribas and the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF. These securities are therefore not available for trading for the time being. In fact, only about 15 percent of Nucera shares are in free float.
Baader Helvea sees Nucera’s IPO as positive for ThyssenKrupp as it reduces the complexity of the company’s structure and puts a price tag on an important growth business. Furthermore, the analysts expect that the IPO will increase the attractiveness of Nucera for potential new customers and employees. According to their estimates, Nucera could reach a valuation of up to 3.5 billion euros in the next 12 to 18 months. Prerequisites are: a further increase in incoming orders, quick processing of orders and the achievement of growth targets without damaging earning power too much.
The IPO in Frankfurt is the second largest this year in Europe after that of the Italian lottery company Lottomatica. IPO candidates and investment bankers hope that the first new issue in Germany since the web hosting and cloud provider Ionos in February will give investors confidence again. Some companies are aiming to go public in the fall.