Sunday September 27, 2009

Lithium-ion maker A123 Systems IPO electrifies with 50% share price rise, nearly $2 billion market cap

greencarcongress.com :

Lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems went public [24 Sep 2009] in a widely anticipated IPO. Initially priced at $13.50 per share, the company, which was spun out of MIT, opened trading on the NASDAQ at $17.00, and closed at $20.29, resulting in a market value of $1,964,396,640 at the end of the day.

news.cnet.com :

A123Systems is expected to raise over $400 million through its IPO, closely watched in the green tech community. It supplies batteries for power tools and has built large, megawatt-scale batteries for utilities. It's also eyeing the automotive sector, potentially a much larger market. A123 Systems received a $249.1 million grant from the Department of Energy to build a lithium ion battery-pack factory in Michigan as part of a $2.4 billion investment in the plug-in electric car supply chain. Despite the strong IPO, experts say that lithium-ion batteries, which will be used in a number of upcoming plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, need to come down in costs significantly for hybrid/electric cars to be more mainstream.

- Lithium-ion is the new in-thing, and nanotech has always been hot. Put these two together and you get something that engenders lots of interest from both investors and the general public. My fund is not long yet and neither am I personally on an individual stock basis. But if/when the PBW ETF (PowerShares Wilderhill Clean Energy) picks up AONE - and it's hard to imagine why it wouldn't with a market cap closing in on the likes of SunPower Corporation - we will be long too.

It has been quite a journey for A123Systems. Putting out an IPO in these turbulent times with the global recession still lingering takes a certain kind of company, and having share prices rise like this is something. Since first tracking them back in 2006, they have had their ups and downs, winning the Black & Decker deal while somehow managing to bungle up the Chevrolet Volt one, at least for the initial production round. The latter apparently had something to do with their focus on cylindrical cells whilst GM/Chevrolet preferred a flat/prismatic format. The good thing is that they've since corrected that oversight with their new prismatic cells (pictured). Here's to hoping that A123 Systems picks up the pace from here and helps build up the electric future.

See also :

1. A123Systems receives $30m funding to develop hybrid Li-Ion batteries
2. Hybrid vehicle battery market to reach $2.3 billion by 2015
3. Nissan, NEC to mass produce lithium-ion batteries for cars
4. Toyota, Matsushita to build Ni-MH and lithium-ion battery plants for hybrid-electric cars
5. Honda, GS Yuasa JV to make lithium-ion batteries for 2010/2011 Honda Civic Hybrid

(2009-09-27 21:10:29 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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