COPENHAGEN: Cadeler A/S has announced its intention to apply for a listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange through an initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO is expected to comprise a primary offering of new ordinary shares in the Company raising gross proceeds of approximately USD 100 million. As part of the IPO, it is also expected that the Company’s current sole shareholder, Swire Pacific Offshore Operations (Pte) Ltd. will sell a portion of its existing shares in the Company.
The net proceeds from the primary tranche are expected to be used to finance the initial instalment for the planned order of the Cadeler X-class vessel, with remaining proceeds expected to be used for working capital, general corporate purposes, repayment of any outstanding intercompany balances or to repay any amounts under the overdraft tranche of the credit facility.
The Company has received an undertaking from BW Wind Services Pte. Ltd., a company associated with BW Group, to become a significant shareholder in the Company through the subscription of USD 33 million in the IPO for a pre-money equity value of up to USD 230 million.
The Company owns and operates two offshore jack-up wind farm installation vessels, Pacific Orca and Pacific Osprey, two of the most capable jack-up wind farm installation vessels in the industry. In addition to installation of wind turbine generators (“WTGs”), these vessels can install foundations and perform operations and maintenance work and other tasks.
The Company can show an extensive list of 20+ wind farm installation projects since 2012, and its track record includes the installation of 287 WTGs and 414 foundations.
Cadeler has an established and solid market position and contracts with a number of the offshore wind industry’s blue-chip customers, including offshore wind turbine manufacturers, power and utilities companies as well as other offshore contractors.
Richard Sell, Chairman of Cadeler and Commercial Director of Swire Pacific Offshore commented: “Cadeler has a decade of experience executing complex offshore wind farm installation projects. The Company has built excellent relationships with blue-chip customers and has a strong orderbook, reflecting several notable contract wins over the last year. A listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange represents an important milestone in the continued development of Cadeler, positioning the Company for a next phase of growth. The listing is intended to ensure that the Company remains a market leader, offering a unique proposition in what is an exciting and rapidly expanding sector.”
Mikkel Gleerup, Chief Executive Officer of Cadeler, commented: “As an established company in the industry, with a solid pipeline of projects, Cadeler is well positioned to consolidate its position at the top table of the offshore wind installation industry.
Cadeler plans to expand and adapt to keep pace with the largest turbines in the market, with further capacity for the mega turbines to come in the future.
This growth will require significant capital investment and is expected to further strengthen the Company’s orderbook and operational flexibility. In addition to supporting our existing partners and clients in Europe, the growth is intended to enable us to capture opportunities in emerging offshore wind markets.
With a strong foundation in place for further growth, the time is right for Cadeler to access the capital markets to support this planned expansion.”
Rapid technological developments and resulting cost improvements in recent years have made offshore wind a highly cost competitive source of energy. Consequently, the expansion of offshore wind capacity is gaining pace globally, with solid growth in existing core markets in Europe complemented by accelerated activity in newer regional markets such as the Asia Pacific region and North America.
This attractive demand combines favorably with a tightening of supply for offshore windfarm installation jack-ups, as the larger WTGs require higher capability vessels for installation. This has led to strong tailwind for Cadeler, which has secured a contract backlog providing clear visibility of attractive revenue growth in 2021 and 2022.
As offshore wind turbines continue to scale up, Cadeler is preparing itself for the installation of next-generation WTGs over the coming decade and beyond with an investment plan intended to keep the Company at the forefront of this fast-moving industry. In addition to the plans to equip Pacific Orca and Pacific Osprey with new cranes, the Company is also preparing to order a new-build vessel with capacities unseen in the industry up to now.
The design of the new-build “Cadeler X-Class” vessel, created in partnership with GustoMSC, is a bespoke version of the NG-20000X-G design, with multiple customizations based on the Company’s decade of experience in the industry. Such a vessel is expected to be able to work on the most difficult sites with the largest equipment in the industry.
To prepare Cadeler’s future as a standalone listed company, the Company has obtained a senior secured credit facility of EUR 95 million from DNB Bank ASA and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA (the “Debt Facility”), comprising a EUR 75 million three-year amortizing term loan and a EUR 20 million overdraft facility. The Debt Facility will benefit from Cadeler having received a Green Finance Second Opinion from CICERO with a rating of the Company’s Green Finance Framework of CICERO Medium Green.
Cadeler is expected to have a first day of trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange in Q4 2020.
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