By Christoph Steitz, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Alexander Hübner
FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Hydrogen firm Thyssenkrupp (ETR:TKAG) Nucera's added 445 million euros ($487 million) in market capitalisation in its Frankfurt market debut on Friday, in what marks Germany's largest initial public offering (IPO) so far this year.
In an encouraging sign for Europe's capital markets, which were hit by market volatility in the first half of 2023, the shares rose as much as 23.4% from their issue price of 20 euros.
They closed at 23.52 euros, giving the joint venture between Germany's Thyssenkrupp and Italy's De Nora a 2.98 billion euro market value.
Both companies will remain shareholders in Nucera, with Thyssenkrupp owning 50.2% and De Nora 25.9%, down from a pre-IPO ownership split of 66% and 34%.
"The IPO is the start of an exciting new phase in our company's history," Nucera CEO Werner Ponikwar said during the Frankfurt Stock Exchange opening ceremony, adding that the firm would help "accelerate the adoption of green hydrogen".
Shares in Thyssenkrupp and De Nora closed up 4.7% and 5.9%, respectively.
Nucera, Thyssenkrupp and De Nora expect to raise up to 605 million euros through the IPO, making it Germany's largest this year after web hosting firm IONOS's February debut.
A wave of companies in Europe are rushing to list before the usual summer lull in IPO activity, in what bankers hope will herald a stronger market recovery in the months ahead.
Unlike most recent European IPOs, Nucera is seeing its shares hold up in secondary trading, suggesting investor appetite for new issues may be coming back after rocketing interest rates all but froze the market last year.
Energy transition has been a theme in recent European IPOs, including EuroGroup Laminations in Italy and Hidroelectrica in Romania.
"While the company still needs to reach profitability, investors bought into the company's technology and strong growth prospects for its green hydrogen business," said Christof Muerb, Managing Director at Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn), which together with Citi led Nucera's IPO.
While in its infancy, so-called green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy and has been hailed as a potential route to a cleaner future for hard to decarbonise sectors.
Nucera offers technology to produce hydrogen via alkaline water electrolysis, the part of its business that investors are most keen on due to the fact that it can be scaled up quickly.
Nucera will get 526 million euros in IPO proceeds to help fund its international expansion in India, Japan, Australia as well as the United States, where it is considering building its own electrolyser capacity, CFO Arno Pfannschmidt said.
The listing marks Thyssenkrupp's latest effort to simplify its conglomerate structure after carving out other group divisions such as its elevator and stainless steel businesses.
"This is a historic moment for Thyssenkrupp ... It's the first IPO of a Thyssenkrupp business ever," its chief executive Miguel Lopez said of Nucera's market debut.
($1 = 0.9129 euros)