ACWA Says Investor Pitch Well Received as It Gears Up for IPO - Bloomberg

ACWA Says Investor Pitch Well Received as It Gears Up for IPO - Bloomberg

ACWA Power, one of Saudi Arabia’s main vehicles for building renewable energy projects, said meetings with potential investors ahead of an initial public offering have gone “very well.”

The company, half-owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, is pushing ahead with an IPO it’s been discussing for years, Chief Executive Officer Paddy Padmanathan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Over the next five years, the company will double the amount of power it generates, mostly from renewable sources amid a global shift away from burning fossil fuels, he said.

“Investors that we have engaged with in pre-IPO presentations have received us very well,” Padmanathan said. “With our own established capability, capacity and track record, to drive the energy transition and reduce the cost of desalinated water,” we are in “the right place, at the right time,” he said.

ACWA is closely tied to the Saudi government’s ambitions to build more renewable power plants, reducing its emissions and freeing up more fossil fuels for the lucrative export market. The Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s powerful sovereign wealth fund, boosted its stake in ACWA earlier this year as it looked to accelerate plans to build more solar power projects.

Padmanathan said ACWA, which has announced plans to stop investing in new coal- or oil-fired power plants, could reach its net-zero emissions goal before an existing target of 2050.

ACWA’s IPO on the Saudi stock exchange could raise about $1 billion, valuing the company at $10 billion, people familiar told Bloomberg last week. Padamanathan declined to comment.