Germany's Friedrich Vorwerk narrows IPO price range -bookrunner (updated)

MBB SE

22/03/2021 10:33

(Adds detail, context, analyst)
    By Vera Eckert and Arno Schuetze
    FRANKFURT, March 22 (Reuters) - German energy infrastructure
company Friedrich Vorwerk is guiding investors to expect its
initial public offering (IPO) to price at 45-48
euros($53.55-$57.12) per share, one of the bookrunners
organising the deal said on Monday. 
    Books are well covered throughout on full deal size, the
bookrunner said. 
    Friedrich Vorwerk initially indicated a price range of 41-56
euros per share, implying a market capitalisation of between 820
million and to 1.12 billion euros. 
    Shares are slated to start trading on March 25. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2L60IL
    Majority shareholder MBB  MBBG.DE  expects Vorwerk's
expertise in natural gas, electricity and hydrogen to attract
investor interest in light of the global push for cleaner
energy, favouring electrification and alternative fuels.
    Germany has started large-scale efforts to develop so-called
green hydrogen, which is produced from water by electrolysis
using renewable power. While the hydrogen business area is small
as yet, its accompanying industrial redesign will generate new
business for infrastructure companies already operating in the
likes of pipelines, cables and related services.
    Vorwerk Chief Executive Torben Kleinfeldt told a recent
press event that the company had some pricing power on its side.
    "Of course we have competitors, but we are sitting in a
sweet spot of having been a service company that draws solely on
its internal resources," he said.
    A slower than expected hydrogen rollout would not be a
problem because the company is firmly rooted in the prime gas
and electricity sectors, he added.
    Vorwerk will remain an owner-managed business, with
Kleinfeldt and MBB retaining sizeable stakes.
    "Sentiment is good, the stock benefits from large publicly
financed investment projects and the order book is full to the
brim," said Patrick Speck, analyst at Hamburg-based equity
research firm Montega.    
($1 = 0.8403 euros)

 (Editing by Riham Alkousaa and David Goodman)
 ((arno.schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30220133648;))