In July 2023 thyssenkrupp floated its electrolyser business, thyssenkrupp nucera. The listing had been planned since early 2022 and was pushed back once. When it finally came, it raised less than the original target. The interesting part is what the company was already holding when it went to market.
Key takeaways
- thyssenkrupp nucera, the green hydrogen electrolyser subsidiary of thyssenkrupp, raised $571.6 million through an initial public offering announced on 7 July 2023, against an initial target of about $647 million set out in early 2022.
- The thyssenkrupp nucera IPO placed more than 30 million shares, of which more than 26 million were new shares, and lifted the company's market capitalisation to around $2.75 billion.
- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and a fund of BNP Paribas took a substantial share of the thyssenkrupp nucera issue as cornerstone investors.
- After the IPO, thyssenkrupp retains at least 50.2 percent of thyssenkrupp nucera and former joint venture partner De Nora retains at least 25.9 percent, subject to shares allocated to stabilise the share price.
- At the time of the listing, thyssenkrupp nucera held an order backlog of around $1.52 billion covering more than 3 GW of contracted electrolysis capacity, including over 2 GW in Saudi Arabia, 200 MW for Shell in Rotterdam and 700 MW for a Swedish steel mill.
Why did the IPO raise less than first planned?
Because the conditions it was planned for changed before it launched. Enerdatics' record of the transaction notes that the listing, first outlined in early 2022, was delayed by the macroeconomic headwinds that followed the events in Eastern Europe. By the time the shares were priced in mid 2023, the target had slipped.
The gap between the original ambition and the final raise is about $75 million, or roughly 12 percent. That is a meaningful shortfall but not a collapse. A company that defers an IPO for over a year and still raises nearly nine tenths of its plan has not been rejected by the market. It has been repriced by it.
The structure of the offer also matters. Of the more than 30 million shares placed, more than 26 million were newly issued. New shares raise money for the company itself, while existing shares sold into an offer raise money for the sellers. The bulk of this offer was new money for thyssenkrupp nucera's growth.
What were investors actually buying?
They were buying a manufacturer with a full order book rather than a technology bet. thyssenkrupp nucera sells alkaline water electrolysis, or AWE, a technology it supplies for green hydrogen at industrial scale, along with engineering, design, operation and maintenance services. An electrolyser splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. When that electricity is renewable, the output is called green hydrogen.
The company's record shows around 600 electrochemical projects worldwide, more than 10 GW of power installed and a supply chain able to deliver 1 GW a year. The contracted backlog at listing ran to more than 3 GW. Set against the raise, the $1.52 billion backlog is worth about 2.7 times the cash the IPO brought in.
That ratio is the core of the story. Many of the hydrogen companies raising equity in 2023 were developers or early-stage technology firms. thyssenkrupp nucera arrived with signed orders large enough to absorb its new capital several times over. The money was raised to deliver work already won, not to go looking for it.
Why does thyssenkrupp keep control?
Because the listing was designed as a partial sale, not an exit. After the IPO thyssenkrupp retains at least 50.2 percent of the business and De Nora, its former joint venture partner, at least 25.9 percent. The word "at least" reflects a standard IPO mechanism. Banks running an offer may allocate extra shares to support the price in the weeks after listing, a process called stabilisation, and the final holdings depend on how many of those shares are used.
Holding just over half keeps thyssenkrupp in control while putting a public market price on the business. At a market capitalisation of around $2.75 billion, thyssenkrupp's majority stake now carries a visible value it did not have when the business sat inside the group.
The cornerstone investors point the same way. PIF and a BNP Paribas fund committed early to a substantial share of the issue. PIF's presence lines up with the largest item in the order book: more than 2 GW of electrolysis plants in Saudi Arabia. A cornerstone investor from the country behind the largest orders is a signal about where the demand sits.
Enerdatics records 21 hydrogen equity financings worldwide in 2023, of which 18 carry a disclosed amount. thyssenkrupp nucera's $571.6 million is the second largest, behind the roughly $1.6 billion raised by H2 Green Steel for its Swedish steel plant powered by electrolysers, and ahead of Planet First Partners' $486 million fund raise in Europe. Among electrolyser and hydrogen technology companies the gap is wider. Electric Hydrogen's $380 million series C in the US was the next largest, followed by Ohmium's $250 million and Verdagy's $73 million. thyssenkrupp nucera raised about 50 percent more than Electric Hydrogen and more than twice Ohmium, and was the only one of the group to do it through a public listing.
What does the deal signal for the hydrogen market?
It signals that public investors will fund electrolyser makers that can show contracted volume, even after a delayed listing. thyssenkrupp nucera did not get its full 2022 target, but it did get a large raise at a time when the other electrolyser makers in Enerdatics' data were raising privately. The difference was a backlog measured in gigawatts and a customer list that included Shell and a Swedish steel mill.
It also shows where public money was willing to go in 2023. A manufacturer with installed equipment and signed orders could tap a public market instead. Equipment suppliers have since kept looking for steadier revenue, as seen in Ballard's move from hydrogen hardware sales towards recurring power-as-a-service revenue.
For Germany specifically, the listing put a market value on a domestic electrolyser manufacturer. Operating German hydrogen assets have since started to change hands too, including ABO Energy's sale of a working 5 MW electrolyser plant in Hesse.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the thyssenkrupp nucera IPO raise?thyssenkrupp nucera raised $571.6 million through its initial public offering, announced on 7 July 2023. The company had initially targeted about $647 million when listing plans were first outlined in early 2022.
Who were the cornerstone investors in the thyssenkrupp nucera IPO?Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and a fund of the French bank BNP Paribas secured a substantial share of the issue as cornerstone investors.
How much of thyssenkrupp nucera does thyssenkrupp still own?thyssenkrupp retains at least 50.2 percent of thyssenkrupp nucera after the IPO, and De Nora retains at least 25.9 percent, subject to shares allocated to stabilise the share price.
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