Excelerate Energy completes successful IPO

Liquid natural gas infrastructure venture Excelerate Energy, which is controlled by longtime oil-and-gas executive George Kaiser, completed its initial public offering Apr. 13 by raising more than $360 million.

Excelerate, which is headquartered in Houston area, sold 16 million of its shares at $24 apiece, the high point of the $21-24 range the company’s nine investment banks had projected last week. The company’s net take could grow further: Executives have given the banks—which are led by Barclays, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley—the option to sell another 2.4 million if investors show enough demand.

Excelerate runs 10 floating storage and regasification units and in 2021 booked more than half of its revenues from customers in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to more inquiries from European prospects that have been dependent on Russian natural gas.

“Given the increased emphasis on security of supply, we believe LNG will be an attractive solution to these customers over the near to mid-term,” executives wrote in a recent regulatory filing. “Although these discussions are in early stages, we are optimistic that there could be increased opportunities to serve the European market.”

The Excelerate team plans to spend more than $280 million on terminals and other growth projects in Brazil, Albania, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, among others. Another $50 million of its IPO proceeds will go toward buying two tankships the company has been leasing from an affiliate of the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Shares of 19-year-old Excelerate (Ticker: EE) opened trading Apr. 13 at $28.20 and peaked at $28.50 during the session before ending the day at $26.85. At that price, the company is worth about $2.8 billion.

Excelerate’s predecessor entity last year posted a net profit of $41.1 million on revenues of nearly $889 million. Kaiser will retain majority control over the company’s shares.