OPC Energy is becoming a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE)-listed company after completing its IPO on Thursday.
OPC raised a total of NIS 398 million at the minimum price of NIS 12.50 per share. NIS 352 million was raised from investment institutions and NIS 46 million from the public. Led by Leumi Partners Ltd., the offering was at a company value of NIS 1.25 billion, before money.
Demand in the institutional part of the IPO was lively, being closed at NIS 13.70 per share. A decision by the Committee for the Reduction of Concentration, headed by Antitrust Authority director general Michal Halperin, to recommend that OPC controlling shareholder Idan Ofer not be allowed to complete the deal for construction of the 400-megawatt natural gas-powered Zomet power station in the vicinity of Kiryat Gat, thereby becoming the largest private electricity producer in Israel, upset the applecart and forced the underwriters to postpone the public part of the IPO and reopen the institutional part.
Assuming that the Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) adopts the committee's decision, the deal for OPC Energy's acquisition of the rights to build the Zomet power station will be vetoed.
According to the OPC prospectus for the IPO, the proceeds from the share offering were designated "to fund the company's regular business and development activity, and mainly to provide the capital needed for the Zomet project."
OPC Energy, led by CEO Giora Almogy, builds and operates private power stations in Israel. The company is a subsidiary of IC Power, controlled by Kenon Holdings Ltd (TASE:KEN: NYSE: KEN-WI).
OPC Energy currently operates a 466-megawatt power station at Mishor Rotem, of which it owns 80%, and is in the process of building a 140-megawatt power station at a cost of NIS 1 billion in Hadera, slated to begin operating in 2019. Operation of the Zomet power station was scheduled to begin in 2021.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on August 13, 2017
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