Codexis, the biotech company backed by Royal Dutch Shell and Pequot Capital, is on the starting blocks, set to issue shares this week as part of a much anticipated $84 million Initial Public Offering (IPO). According to some reports the share sale could happen Thursday.
The Redwood City, Calif., company does not produce biofuel but manufactures synthetic enzymes that convert organic materials — like wood chips, switchgrass, cornhusks, sugar cane — into biofuel. The process can also be used for the pharmaceutical indusry.
Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are lead underwriters. Shares were priced at a range of $13 to $15. This is the second try at an IPO for Codexis which withdrew its previous IPO in 2008 because of the dire market conditions.
The share offering could act as a barometer of investor appetite for cleantech stocks. Green-sector companies are eager to take advantage of the improving market conditions. Friday Amyris, a developer of sugar-based second generation biofuel, filed an S-1 with the SEC for a $100 million IPO — see our story below.
Other expected share sales include the $300 million offering of solar panel maker Solyndra (lead underwriters: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.). As well as the $100 million offering of electric car maker Tesla Motors (lead underwriters: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities ).