Friedrich Vorwerk’s Energy Expertise Could Attract Investors

German energy infrastructure company Friedrich Vorwerk is guiding investors to expect its initial public offering (IPO) to price at €45-48 (US$53.55-57.12) per share, one of the bookrunners organizing the deal said on the 22^nd March.

Books are well covered throughout on full deal size, the bookrunner said.

Friedrich Vorwerk initially indicated a price range of €41-56 per share, implying a market capitalization of between €820 million and to 1.12 billion.

Shares are slated to start trading on the 25^th March.

Majority shareholder MBB expects Vorwerk’s expertise in natural gas, electricity and hydrogen to attract investor interest in light of the global push for cleaner energy, favouring electrification and alternative fuels.

Germany has started large-scale efforts to develop so-called green hydrogen, which is produced from water by electrolysis using renewable power. While the hydrogen business area is small as yet, its accompanying industrial redesign will generate new business for infrastructure companies already operating in the likes of pipelines, cables and related services.

Vorwerk Chief Executive Torben Kleinfeldt told a recent press event that the company had some pricing power on its side.

“Of course we have competitors, but we are sitting in a sweet spot of having been a service company which draws solely on its internal resources,” he said.

A slower than expected hydrogen rollout would not be a problem because the company is firmly rooted in the prime gas and electricity sectors, he added.

Vorwerk will remain an owner-managed business, with Mr Kleinfeldt and MBB retaining sizeable stakes.

“Sentiment is good, the stock benefits from large publicly financed investment projects and the order book is full to the brim,” said Patrick Speck, analyst at Hamburg-based equity research firm Montega.

Source: Pipeline & Gas Journal