BackAzure Power debuts at a discount on NYSE
Shares of solar energy firm Azure Power debuted on the NYSE at $16.12, lower than the issue price of $18
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Shares of India-based solar energy firm Azure Power Global Ltd debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday at $16.12, lower than the issue price of $18. The issue price itself was lowered earlier in the day from the previous range of $21-23 a share.
The first Indian renewable energy company to list in the US stock market sold 3.41 million shares in its initial public offering (IPO), including 2.24 million new shares and 1.16 million shares from existing shareholders.
Apart from the money raised in the IPO, “Azure Power will also receive gross proceeds of $75 million from the sale of equity shares in connection with a concurrent private placement transaction...," the company said in a statement.
Delhi-based Azure Power had, in December, filed for the IPO to raise $100 million by selling 6.8 million shares in a price range of $21-23 per share.
“We just felt this was the right time to take the company public...The backdrop for solar in India continues to get better, but there are challenges on the manufacturing side," founder Inderpreet Wadhwa told Mint on the phone.
Azure Power said it intends to use the share sale proceeds primarily to fund the purchase of equity shares of its subsidiary Azure Power India Pvt. Ltd (AZI), and to fund future operating expenses. AZI in turn will use the proceeds for its new project development. The company has a target to achieve 1 GW capacity by December 2017 and 5 GW by December 2020, the company said in its December filing.
Several of Azure Power’s Indian peers including ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd, Mytrah Energy India Pvt. Ltd, and ACME Solar have looked at raising money through an IPO in the Indian market, but these plans have yet not fructified. Mytrah Energy’s parent company, Mytrah Energy Ltd, is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.
India’s solar energy market has seen a sharp growth in recent years and rising interest from global financial investors, helped by the country’s thrust on increasing solar capacity. India has raised its 2022 solar energy target to 100 gigawatts (GW) from 20 GW.
Barclays and Credit Suisse were joint book-running managers while Roth Capital Partners was co-manager to the offering.
The clean energy firm is backed by World Bank arm International Finance Corp., venture capital fund Helion Venture Partners and German development finance institution DEG. The company has 17 operational utility scale projects and several commercial rooftop projects with a combined capacity of 242 megawatts (MW). By December it plans to have operating capacity of 520 MW by 31 December.
According to the firm’s filings, for financial year 2014-15, it reported a revenue of Rs112.4 crore and a loss of Rs108.8 crore. It has raised over $525 million in equity and debt finance and about $102 million of the amount raised remains available for deployment, Azure Power said in December.
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