Brenmiller Energy to raise NIS 20m in secondary offering

Avi Brenmiller Photo; Company
Avi Brenmiller Photo; Company

The proceeds will be used for the Rotem 1 and Rotem 2 power station projects.

Brenmiller Energy Ltd. (TASE:BNRG), controlled by entrepreneur Avi Brenmiller, is conducting another share offering. The company will attempt to raise NIS 20 million today by issuing 10% of its shares (together with an allocation of options at no additional cost) at NIS 17 per share. No minimum price has been set for the offering. If the offering is oversubscribed, the company will issue more shares for NIS 3 million to the participants in the offering, which is being led by Poalim IBI Underwriting and Investments Ltd. (TASE:PIU). Brenmiller himself, who held 77.2% of the company's capital before the offering, has undertaken to buy shares in the offering for NIS 2.5 million. Brenmiller entered the stock exchange in August 2017, raising NIS 45 million. The share price has declined somewhat since then, reflecting a current market cap of NIS 190 million.

The company is designating the proceeds from its new offering for various purposes, depending on its needs, including anticipated important activities, with an emphasis on equity for energy selling enterprises (such as the Rotem 1 power station), sales and marketing activity, finding strategic partnerships, and financing the regular activity of the company and its investee companies.

Brenmiller Energy was founded five and a half years ago by CEO Avi Brenmiller. The company initially developed and built thermo-solar fields. Its business model was based on construction of such fields for electricity producers. After several years of activity, Brenmiller Energy decided to focus on a system for storing heat energy.

The company's device is capable of storing energy from a variety of sources - wind power stations, solar panels, an electrical grid, water, etc. - storing it, and providing steam energy. Competition in this sector comes from other energy storage solutions, such as pump storage and storage in molten salt, as well as other technologies (i.e. concrete-based storage) in development.

As of now, the company has no revenue, which is expected to begin arriving only in 2018, when construction of two power station projects promoted by the company in Mishor Rotem near Dimona, Rotem 1 and Rotem 2, will begin. Most of the money from the offerings, both the company's first and the current one, are designated for construction of these projects.

The company is slated to invest NIS 47 million in the 1.5-megawatt Rotem 1 project, scheduled to begin operation in 2019 and continue for 20 years. Annual revenue from the facility is expected to reach NIS 6.4 million.

Brenmiller Energy expects to invest NIS 115 million in the 10-megawatt Rotem 2 project, slated to begin operations in 2020. The project is likely to generate NIS 20 million in annual revenue for 20 years.

Brenmiller Energy's share prices responded to the financing round by sliding 2.5% to NIS 16.30, 4% lower than the share price in the offering (the effective share price, including the option, is NIS 13.65).

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 27, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

Avi Brenmiller Photo; Company
Avi Brenmiller Photo; Company
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