German hydrogen firm HH2E could consider IPO in future, founders say
03/08/2023 09:15
By Christoph Steitz
BERLIN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - German hydrogen firm HH2E may
consider a stock market listing if required to fund its
ambitious growth plans in the future, one of its co-founders
said, adding that for now the company's focus remained on
ramping up its operational business.
HH2E, a project developer in which UK-listed funds Foresight
Group FSGF.L and HydrogenOne Capital Growth HGEN.L own
stakes, aims to benefit from rising demand in green hydrogen and
the technology needed to produce it.
It wants to have 4 gigawatt of capacity in Germany by 2030,
and already requires up to 300 million euros ($337 million) in
funds for its initial expansion phase.
"I think an IPO is definitely an interesting thing,
especially if you need the money for further growth," said
Andreas Schierenbeck, one of HH2E's board members and a former
top executive at Uniper UN01.DE and Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE .
"If (the market) is really developing as we assume there is
a lot of capital necessary," he said during a Reuters Events
interview.
While it was not a priority for the company to look into a
possible listing yet, Schierenbeck said such a step could not be
ruled out: "If you need that for growth and to finance our
growth, why not. We will see."
Schierenbeck's comments come a month after rival
Thyssenkrupp Nucera NCH2.DE successfully listed on the
Frankfurt stock exchange, indicating rising investor appetite
for the technology that uses renewable energy to make hydrogen.
HH2E is currently working on getting two hydrogen projects
off the ground in Germany, one in Saxony and one in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which could both be ramped up to a
combined 2 gigawatts in capacity by 2030.
Fellow co-founder Alexander Voigt agreed that in order to
get the money needed for the green hydrogen transformation,
several parts of the capital market would have to be tapped.
"And therefore we will see how to move on. But it's too
early to take a conclusion on that," Voigt told Reuters during
the interview.
($1 = 0.8913 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Emma Rumney)
((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 647;))