GrafTech International (NYSE: EAF)
GrafTech International Ltd., a leading graphite electrode products maker based in Brooklyn Heights, Ohio is planning to go public this month. The company filed a prospectus with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 3 to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), under the ticker symbol “EAF.”
The company said Wednesday, April 3 it was offering a total of 37.8 million shares in its IPO, at a price range of $21 to $24 a share. The expected date of the IPO is April 20.
Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan are acting as the joint lead book-runners on the offering. HSBC, Citigroup, and RBC are acting as joint book-running managers. TD Securities, BMO, National Bank Financial, BNP Paribas and CIBC are co-managers.
GrafTech is owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and the latter is the sole provider of the shares. According to sources close to the deal, the company seeks to raise over $800 million through the IPO. That could increase its value by more than eleven times the amount paid by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in buying buy the company.
GrafTech was bought by the asset manager three years ago, when the American steel industry was grappling with a collapse in prices due to China’s record exports. The firm reported profit of $8 million for fiscal 2017, versus a loss of $235.8 million the year before.
The firm swung to net sales of $550 million for fiscal 2017, representing an increase of $112 million in 2016. GrafTech’s offering comes at a time when company is at a turnaround, and the steel industry is showing promising growth potentials. However, Brookfield has burdened the firm with massive debt, potentially weakening its growth potentials.
GrafTech engages in the production of graphite electrode products that are used to make steel and other non-ferrous and ferrous metals in electric arc furnaces. The company came into existence in 1886 and is also involved in the manufacture of other carbon-based products for a that are applied across various industrial sectors. Chief Executive Officer David Rintoul took the helm at the company in March, 2018 after previously serving as the president of US Steel Tubular Products.
GrafTech was a publicly held company before Brookfield Asset Management Inc. bought it in 2015. It has been going through a reorganization process because of the worsening financial conditions and slumping steel demand in the larger American steel industry. As of December, 2017 the company had a total of 1,310 employees.
Sources
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4161090-graftech-proposes-terms-850-million-ipo
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/931148/000104746918002503/a2235184zs-1a.htm
https://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/activity.aspx?tab=upcoming
