Frac sand supplier Alpine Silica confidentially files for US IPO
15/02/2024 14:37
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Alpine Silica Holding has
confidentially filed to go public in the United States, parent
company ProFrac Holding Corp ACDC.N said on Thursday.
ProFrac's move to tap U.S. capital markets for the unit
comes against the backdrop of a deal frenzy in the oil rich
Permian Basin, which lies between Texas and New Mexico.
Alpine Silica, ProFrac's proppant production segment and
wholly owned subsidiary, operates frac sand reserves and
produces five different sand products throughout Louisiana and
Texas.
Frack sand is mixed in a slurry and forced at high pressure
into wells to free oil and gas trapped in rocks.
The company is located in the oil and gas regions around the
U.S., including the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shale basins as
well as the Permian Basin.
With a record 2023 for oil and energy deals in U.S, some
analysts said future deals are unlikely to match the sheer size
of Permian shale deals in recent months.
Major deals included $50 billion-plus purchases by Exxon
Mobil XOM N> and Chevron CVX.N of Pioneer Natural Resources
PXD.N and Hess HES.N , respectively.
Alpine Silica is moving ahead with its listing plans at a
time when some investors expect the U.S. initial public offering
markets to stage a rebound as bets of a soft landing firm up.
Social media firm Reddit, cloud security company Rubrik and
software startup ServiceTitan are all expected to go public in
2024.
Founded in 2016, ProFrac provides services and products,
including hydraulic fracturing and proppants production, to oil
and gas companies that deal with exploration and production
(E&P).
Last year, the holding company laid down a variety of
options for Alpine Silica including public offering, sale or
merger or potential recapitalization.
(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
((Mehnaz.Yasmin@thomsonreuters.com;))