Fundraising

IPO values DONG at $15bn

The Danish offshore wind developer is Europe’s biggest IPO so far this year, with Goldman Sachs and ATP emerging as significant shareholders.

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DONG Energy, one of the largest offshore wind developers in the world, was valued at DKr98.2 billion ($15 billion; €13 billion) on Thursday in Europe's largest initial public offering so far this year.

The Danish company priced its offer for 72.8 million shares on the Nasdaq stock market in Copenhagen at DKr235 per share. DONG, which said it planned to sell at least 15 percent of the company when it floated the offer last month, sold 17.4 percent and generated DKr17.1 billion in proceeds. Its shares had risen over 9 percent on Thursday.

The Government of Denmark's stake in DONG fell from 58.8 percent to 50.4 percent. New Energy Investment, fully owned by Goldman Sachs, has a 14.7 percent stake, power co-operative SEAS-NVE has a 9.6 percent stake and pension fund ATP has a 4 percent stake. After the IPO, there are more than 36,000 new investors with a stake in DONG.

“I'm pleased to see that there has been a lot of interest in becoming part of the ownership of DONG Energy, both among retail and professional investors,” Danish Minister of Finance Claus Hjort Frederiksen said in a statement. “It gives DONG Energy a solid foundation to retain and develop its position as one of the leading green energy companies in the world.”

DONG has transitioned itself over the past decade from being a regional, coal-intensive utility to one of the world's leading offshore wind developers. The company said it expects DKr10-DKr12 billion to come from wind out of its DKr20-DKr23 billion projected EBITDA range.

It has stakes in some of the largest ongoing projects with 3.7GW of offshore wind farms with secured consent and subsidies currently under construction. The firm is developing the 1.2GW Hornsea 1, the 582MW Gode Wind 1 and 2 and the 659MW Walney Extension 1 and 2 projects. It also recently acquired development rights for an area off the coast of New Jersey from RES Americas Developments.

A consortium of banks including JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Nordea Bank Danmark served as joint global coordinators on the offering. Dong Energy's financial advisor was Lazard, and the Danish government was advised by Rothschild.