Banpu Public Company Limited (SET: BANPU) announced that on November 18, 2022, BKV Corporation (a subsidiary) filed its registration statement, including a draft prospectus (public filing), with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in order to offer its newly issued ordinary shares in an initial public offering (IPO).
The foregoing is in line with the resolution of the board of directors meeting No. 9/2022, held on September 28, 2022, to approve the plan to offer newly issued ordinary shares in BKV in IPO and to list these ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The company will remain a major shareholder and controlling person of BKV and remain as a subsidiary on the completion date of the IPO.
The transaction date is expected to be within 2023 after the key conditions for the transaction are completed. The offering price will be determined by BKV’s book building process with participation by institutional investors and approved by BKV’s pricing committee.
The benefit to the company is expected as a part of the strategy to expand BKV’s business and growth from gaining access to capital markets, with the goal to achieve Net Zero emissions from BKV’s owned and operated upstream business by the end of 2025.
The BKV will use the proceeds under the IPO plan to repay the USD 75 million loan agreement with Banpu North America Corporation (a subsidiary) and to fund a contingent consideration payment with respect to BKV’s acquisition of certain upstream assets in the Barnett Shale from Devon Energy Corp. and for general corporate purposes, including the expansion of BKV’s carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) business.
