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Bloom Energy marks success after $270 mln. IPO

27 July 2018
Electricity
energynomics

Bloom Energy, the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers-backed maker of fuel-cell power systems, climbed on its first day of trading after pricing a rare alternative-energy IPO.

The shares rose 47 percent to $22.10 at 2:09 p.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of about $2.34 billion. Bloom Energy sold 18 million shares for $15 apiece Tuesday after marketing the stock at a range of $13 to $15 in the first alternative energy IPO in the U.S. since October 2016, according to Bloomberg.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company makes what it calls energy servers, or systems comprised of many fuel cells that allow customers including Morgan Stanley and AT&T Inc. to generate clean electricity onsite even when the utility grid goes dark. Bloom plans to use the proceeds for general purposes including research and development and sales and marketing, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Its listing comes just months after the U.S. reinstated an investment tax credit for fuel cells as part of a tax overhaul bill, making the systems more affordable to develop in its biggest market. Chief Executive Officer KR Sridar said that while the lapse in the tax credits were one reason he postponed an IPO two years ago, he was prepared to move forward with the sale this year even if they weren’t restated.

Bloom’s revenue rose last year, but the company expects to remain unprofitable for the foreseeable future, according to the filing. It has an accumulated a deficit of $2.3 billion based on cash reserves, debt and convertible preferred stock. Bloom’s fuel cells produce electricity from natural gas in a chemical reaction that emits fewer greenhouse gases than combustion and a little bit of water.

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