German renewables firm Blue Elephant plans summer IPO - sources

Energiekontor AG

28/04/2021 15:20

By Christoph Steitz and Arno Schuetze
    FRANKFURT, April 28 (Reuters) - German renewable energy firm
Blue Elephant Energy is preparing a stock market flotation in
the European summer that could value it at up to 1 billion euros
($1.2 billion), three people familiar with the matter said.
    The company, which is working with investment bank
Berenberg, is expected to sell shares worth roughly 150 million
euros in the initial public offering, which could be announced
at the end of June and carried out in July, they added.
    Blue Elephant, whose peers include Energiekontor  EKTG.DE 
and PNE AG  PNEGn.DE , said it was constantly reviewing various
options for financing further growth, but declined to elaborate.
    Berenberg declined to comment.
    Blue Elephant Energy operates solar and onshore wind parks
in Europe with a capacity of about 1.1 gigawatts. It has also
secured a pipeline of equal size for solar capacity in
cooperation with project developers.
    Plans for a listing come as valuations for renewable assets
have soared, driven by rising demand from various sectors,
including oil, as well as a global shift towards clean
technologies and away from fossil fuels.
    The FTSE 50 cleantech index  .FTET50  has nearly doubled
since the beginning of 2020, boosting players such as Encavis
 ECVG.DE , whose enterprise value is around 15.8 times core
earnings, giving it a market valuation of 2.35 billion euros.
    Blue Elephant Energy last year posted operating earnings
before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of more than
60 million euros on sales of more than 80 million.
    Blue Elephant Energy's owners include funds backed by the
Wacker family, which is also the biggest shareholder in
speciality chemicals maker Wacker Chemie  WCHG.DE .
Peter-Alexander Wacker is Blue Elephant Energy's chairman.
    Other shareholders include founder and Chief Executive Felix
Goedhart's RTG Beteiligungs GmbH as well as Jahr
Assetmanagement, the family office of the family which owned
publisher Gruner+Jahr  BTGGg.F .
    ($1 = 0.8286 euros)

 (Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((arno.schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30220133648;))