In my
Cleantech Outlook for 2009, I highlighted A123 Systems as
a top company to watch. The energy storage firm had filed a
registration statement with the SEC, signifying that it was
prepping for an initial public offering in the
not-too-distant future.
Things were dicey at first, with the firm getting
passed overby General Motors and its Chevy Volt plans.
April, however, brought a
key winwith Chrysler for a line of electric-drive
vehicles. A123 subsequently had no trouble raising $69
million from investors including
General Electric (NYSE: GE),
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), and
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM).
On the grid storage side of the business, A123 has gone on
to garner further interest from firms like Southern
California Edison, which is looking to pursue a pair of smart
grid projects with a group including
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO),
IBM (NYSE: IBM), and
SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) (Nasdaq: SPWRB).
A123's next hurdle was landing a loan guarantee from the
Department of Energy, but the company's selection to build a
new plant in Michigan seemed like a no-brainer to me. The
firm won a $249 million grant in August. Having been given
the government green light, and a slew of state incentives to
boot, A123's expansion is moving forward. Hence the proposed
IPO under the Nasdaq ticker "AONE," set for later this
week.
The buzz is clearly building -- A123's estimated initial
offering price was today increased from a range of $8 to
$9.50 to a heartier $10 to $11.50. Let's take a look under
the hood before that first day of trading really gets
everyone's motor running.
Since it commercialized its first battery products in
2006, A123 has generated $154 million in product revenue. If
you include R&D revenue, the total jumps to $188 million.
Nearly 23% of that total revenue figure came in the first six
months of this year, which conveys the heady growth being
generated by this battery biz.
Adjusted for the expected offering of 25 million shares at
a midpoint price of $10.75, here's what A123's core stats
will look like:
Share Structure and Capitalization
Numbers
Shares Outstanding
96.8 million
Market Capitalization
$1,040.8 million
Cash and Equivalents
$362.6 million
Debt Continued... |