http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a123-systems-jolts-the-ipo-market-2009-09-24?siteid=yhoof
Sept. 24, 2009, 4:15 p.m. EDT
A123 Systems jolts IPO market
Lithium ion battery maker draws strong interest
By Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A123 Systems Inc.'s newly minted shares jumped 50% in their stock market debut on Thursday as Wall Street placed its bets behind the government-subsidized maker of lithium-ion batteries for the growing electric car market.
A123 Systems' /quotes/comstock/15*!aone/quotes/nls/aone (AONE 20.29, +6.79, +50.30%) IPO closed at $20.29 a share, up $6.79 over its offering price of $13.50 a share. The stock first crossed the tape at $17 a share and rose.
The company priced 28.1 million shares, raising $378 million for its debut on the Nasdaq. The Watertown, Mass.-based firm went public above its already-increased range of $10 to $11.50 a share.
In another bullish move, the size of the initial public offering was increased by 2.4 million shares from its earlier level of 25.7 million shares.
Analyst John Fitzgibbon of IPOscoop.com said A123 drew interest from IPO investors as a way to tap into new technology, while two real estate
investment trusts that also went public on Thursday from Apollo Group and Colony Financial mostly drew a cold shoulder. See full story.
"It's an exotic industry," Fitzgibbon said of A123's green technology luster. "It's a momentum sector play...You can expect to see more of these."
Morgan Stanley /quotes/comstock/13*!ms/quotes/nls/ms (MS 30.73, -1.30, -4.06%) and Goldman Sachs /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 183.06, -0.58, -0.32%) served as underwriters and joint book running managers for the IPO.
On Tuesday, A123 Systems fattened the estimated price range of its IPO to $10 to $11.50 a share, from $9 to $9.50 a share.
The same day, Fisker Automotive won a $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build electric cars. Tesla, another electric car maker, received a $465 million loan commitment in June under the same program. See related story on electric cars
A123 Systems, an eight-year-old battery builder launched by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has yet to turn a profit.
But it carries marquee investors in its list of principal shareholders, including General Electric Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!ge/quotes/nls/ge (GE 16.58, -0.42, -2.47%) , Qualcomm Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!qcom/quotes/nls/qcom (QCOM 44.66, +0.43, +0.97%) , Motorola Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!mot/quotes/nls/mot (MOT 8.33, -0.16, -1.88%) and North Bridge Venture Partners.
Based on data from IHS Global Insight, the number of hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid and electric cars will grow from 19 models in 2009 at an annual production rate of at least 20,000 vehicles to more than 150 models in 2014 and more than 200 models in 2019, A123 said in its IPO filing. A.T. Kearney projects the market will grow to about $21.8 billion by 2015 and $74.1 billion by 2020, stoked by governmental regulation, emerging powertrain technology and rising consumer demand.
A123 Systems' proprietary "Nanophosphate" technology was initially developed at MIT. The company was founded in 2001.
Two of the company's three founders listed on its Website are from the school, including Yet-Ming Chiang, who also cofounded American Superconductor Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!amsc/quotes/nls/amsc (AMSC 29.73, -1.21, -3.91%) in 1987.
The company reported a loss of $40.7 million on revenue of $42.9 million in the six months ended June 30. In the year-ago period, it lost $33 million on revenue of $21.9 million. A123 lost $81 million in 2008 and $31 million in 2007. It also reported 1,672 employees as of Aug. 31, up from 227 at the start of 2007.
Not only a provider for electric cars, A123 Systems develops and manufactures advanced lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for the electric grid services and consumer markets as well.
Black & Decker Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!bdk/quotes/nls/bdk (BDK 45.79, -0.59, -1.27%) and Daimler AG's /quotes/comstock/13*!dai/quotes/nls/dai (DAI 49.55, -0.06, -0.12%) have been major customers.
For the six months ended June 30, business from BAE Systems PLC /quotes/comstock/23s!a:ba. (UK:BA. 340.00, -1.20, -0.35%) represented 37% of A123's revenue.
In April, the firm raised $69 million in venture financing with participation from General Electric. GE executive Mark M. Little now sits on the company's board.
On Aug. 6, A123 won $249 million in federal stimulus funds, which the company plans to use to build factories for making batteries.
Steve Gelsi is a reporter for MarketWatch in New York.
