Nucera develops plants that produce green hydrogen.
(Photo: mauritius images / Timon Schneider / Alamy / Alamy Stock Photos)
Eat Thyssen-Krupp had postponed the IPO of its hydrogen subsidiary Nucera for a year, now the industrial group is getting serious. The company announced on Monday that the first shares should be placed before the summer break, provided the market environment plays along. According to the information, Thyssen-Krupp intends to hold a majority stake in its subsidiary in the long term. The Italian minority shareholder Industrie De Nora also wants to continue its long-standing partnership with the company.
For the partial IPO of the hydrogen subsidiary, Thyssen-Krupp primarily wants to offer newly issued common shares from a capital increase. From this, the group hopes to generate proceeds of 500 million to 600 million euros. The group intends to use the money to expand its alkaline water electrolysis business.
Thyssen-Krupp actually wanted to list the subsidiary last year. However, due to the volatile market conditions, the group initially refrained from these plans.
Nucera’s business is currently focused on Europe and North America. There they want to set up and expand locations, explained Werner Ponikwar, CEO of the hydrogen subsidiary in a conference call with journalists. “For market cultivation and processing of our orders, we also have locations in Japan, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia and soon also in India.”
According to the CEO, North America in particular should become a core market for Thyssen-Krupp Nucera in the future. Thanks to support from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), there are particularly good local growth opportunities.
“We want to make Thyssen-Krupp Nucera even more visible as a global electrolysis technology leader for green hydrogen. At the same time, we want to play a key role in supporting the growth of a company that enables the green transformation,” said Miguel Ángel López Borrego, CEO of Thyssen-Krupp since June.
With the IPO, the financial leeway of the hydrogen subsidiary is growing. “The inflow of funds from the capital increase will benefit Thyssen-Krupp Nucera directly,” says López Borrego. The parent company will remain a shareholder of Nucera in the long term and will support the strategy.
Favorable market environment
Thyssen-Krupp currently holds around 66 percent of the shares in Nucera, the Italian group De Nora 34 percent. The total number of shares to be offered in the IPO, as well as other relevant conditions, would be determined before the start of the IPO, the group said.
“With our technology for the production of green hydrogen, we want to help shape the new era of sustainable energy use,” explained Nucera boss Ponikwar. “Green hydrogen is a key factor for the decarbonization of industry and thus for achieving climate protection goals.”
The market currently offers great growth potential worldwide. “The volatility on the stock exchanges has decreased,” says Arno Pfannschmidt, CFO of Thyssen-Krupp.
With a financial cushion of 300 million euros, Nucera is not dependent on an IPO to implement the forthcoming investments. But the time is now right: Thanks to its recurring revenues and high profitability, the planning security in the company is currently high, emphasized Nucera boss Ponikwar.
After the planned IPO of the hydrogen subsidiary was announced, Thyssen-Krupp shares rose by almost two percent.
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