NH Solar Company Set for Massive IPO on Nasdaq
July 21, 2008 by Ethan Kendrick
Filed under Business
GT Solar International Inc., based in Merrimack, New Hampshire, is going public on NASDAQ this week. The company does not make solar panels, but rather makes equipment that is critical to the production of photovoltaic cells.
Net income for the company rose to $36 million for the 2008 fiscal year (ending on March 31) compared to a net loss of $18 million last year. Revenue was $244 million during the profit-producing year. Nearly 97% of that revenue came from customers in China.
Rick Hanna, an analyst at Morningstar said, “A hot solar market for them is like a gold rush: The miners might not know for sure whether there is gold in the hills, but it sure is good to be the company selling picks and shovels to them. That’s what GT Solar is: They sell the equipment that solar manufacturers need.”
This is the first IPO for an American company of this kind. The company has an order backlog in excess of $1 billion.
IPO share prices are expected to be in the range of about $16.50 for each of the 30.3 million shares being offered for a total of nearly $500 million. Reuters reported that this could be the largest IPO for an American solar company, but the market is shaky. The stocks of solar industry leaders are suffering; some are down well into double-digit percentages. UBS Investment Bank and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters for the offering.
GT Solar will be listed as SOLR on the Nasdaq Global Market and shares are expected to go on sale on either the 24th or 25th of this week. GT Solar Holdings will maintain at least a 74.9% stake in the company after the IPO.
