US floating regasification specialist Excelerate Energy has launched its planned IPO which could raise up to $384m.
Excelerate said in a filing on Monday that it expects to issue 16 million shares on 12 April at a price of between $21.00 to $24.00 per share.
The company estimates the net proceeds from the offering based on the midpoint price and after deducting costs will be approximately $340.2m or $391.2m if its underwriters exercise their option to purchase an additional 2.4m shares.
The company has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “EE”.
The shares are expected to be priced on 12 April and start trading the following day.
Up to 5% of shares offered have been reserved for sale to company employees and related business associates.
Barclays, J P Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the joint lead book-runners for the offering.
Excelerate said in its prospectus that the aim of the IPO is to increase the company’s financial flexibility and give it access to the capital markets.
The company said some $281m of the proceeds will be used to fund its growth strategy including its projects in projects in Brazil, Albania, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
A further $50m is allocated to fund partly the purchase of what the company terms “foundation vessels” — the 138,000-cbm Excelsior and the Excellence (both built 2005), in connection with its reorganization.
Some $9.2m has been set aside to pay for the reorganisation and IPO expenses.
Excelerate said it has grown its business “significantly” since its first FSRU charter in 2003.
The company said today it has regional offices in eight countries and operations in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In addition to Petrobras in Brazil, Exclerate said it has plans to sell regasified natural gas to other downstream customers in the country and in Albania, the Philippines and Bangladesh and said it is in active discussions with project partners about the market in Vietnam.
The company, which is headed up by Steven Kobos, operates ten purpose-built FSRUs.
For the year ended 31 December 2021, Excelerate said it generated revenues of $888.6m and a net income of $41.2m.
Excelerate said that in addition to its FSRU, terminal services and natural gas sales, it plans to expand into LNG-to-power projects and smaller-scale natural gas distribution solutions.
“We are evaluating and pursuing over twenty additional early-stage projects with opportunities in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America and Asia,” it added.
Excelerate said LNG will play a critical part in the global transition to a lower-carbon future.
“Due to recent geopolitical events, including the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we are seeing an increase in inquiries for our FSRU and integrated terminal service,” the company said, with the interest mainly coming from countries historically dependent on Russian gas imports.
“Given the increased emphasis on security of supply, we believe LNG will be an attractive solution to these customers over the near to mid-term,” Excelerate said. “Although these discussions are in early stages, we are optimistic that there could be increased opportunities to serve the European market.”
