Iberdrola SA is a Spanish mega-utility, as it’s one of the world’s five largest utilities. It’s also a clean-energy powerhouse as it’s the world’s top producer of wind power. My fellow green money writer Tim and I have mentioned Iberdrola a few times on this site.
Iberdrola has been building its wind-energy business through a series of acquisitions over the past few years. But it became the wind-powerhouse when it acquired Scottish Power last year for $23 billion and, in the deal, whisked up a huge wind-energy portfolio, including Portland, Oregon-based PPM Energy, the No. 2 US wind-energy producer after Florida-based FPL (NYSE:FPL). (Check out my recent piece on FPL.)
The Big Green IPO
The company sold 20% of its clean-energy unit Iberenova in a pricey IPO this past week. The new public company is called ‘Iberdrola Renewables’ and trades on the Madrid stock exchange. Based on the IPO price, the total market value of the unit is $32.3 billion. As 20% of the unit was floated as the IPO, the company now has an additional $6.5 billion (4.5 billlion euros) in green.
Let’s put some perspective on the size of this big green monster:
- It’s the largest clean-energy stock market IPO ever!
- It’s also the second largest IPO this year — behind Russia’s VTB Bank.
Where’s the IPO Green Going To Go?
By all reports, the US figures predominently in the company’s expansion plans. PPM Energy already has extensive operations in the Pacific Northwest and California, and has wind farms under construction in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Colorado.
Iberdrola also is expanding rapidly in France, Greece, Eastern Europe, and Spain.
How Can I Invest?
The stock trades on the Madrid exchange (MCE) under the ticker IBR (MCE:IBR). It does not trade on any US exchanges — I’d imagine this is just a matter of time.
Given the massive size of this one, it’s almost a sure thing that at least a couple of the major clean-tech ETFs (a subject Tim and I’ve written about) will likely include Iberdrola Renewables in their holdings in the near future — and perhaps they even picked up some shares at the IPO this past Thursday. Stay tuned as we’ll keep on top of this one.
How Did the IPO Go?
The stock offering was priced at 5.30 euros per share. Below is the chart for the two days the stock has traded. It closed at 5.50 on Friday Dec 14, for a two-day gain of 3.8%.
This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities.
