Fluence IPO values battery storage provider at $4.7B

Fluence Energy Inc., an energy storage company started by AES Corp. and Siemens AG, has priced its initial public offering of 31 million shares of class A common stock at $28 per share. The IPO values Fluence at approximately $4.7 billion.

The shares are expected to start trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Oct. 28 under the ticker "FLNC," with the IPO scheduled to close on Nov. 1, subject to closing conditions.

Fluence gave underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 4,650,000 additional shares of its class A common stock at the IPO offering price, minus discounts and commissions.

Fluence is a pure-play provider of energy storage technology that originated from AES' work to conceive and test the world's first lithium-ion energy storage system connected to a grid in 2007. As of June 30, Fluence had deployed 900 MW of energy storage assets and had a contracted backlog totaling 1,900 MW.

"Almost 15 years ago, AES started working on developing lithium-ion battery systems to improve the efficiency and flexibility of the grid and enable the broader expansion of renewables," said Andrés Gluski, AES President and CEO.

"In 2018, we joined together with Siemens to create Fluence to drive global adoption of energy storage systems. Today's transaction will further accelerate the growth of Fluence and its leadership in bringing new energy storage and AI-enabled bidding systems to the global market," Gluski said.

Upon completion of the IPO, AES will own a 35% indirect economic interest in Fluence through Fluence Energy LLC. AES will also have approximately 46% voting power in the energy storage company.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital Inc., and BofA Securities are serving as joint lead book-running managers of the offering. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, UBS Securities LLC, Evercore Group LLC, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and RBC Capital Markets LLC are acting as joint book-running managers.

Nomura Securities International, Inc., Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., Raymond James & Associates Inc., Seaport Global Securities LLC, Penserra Securities LLC and Siebert Williams Shank & Co. LLC are serving as co-managers.