By Mark Boslet, co-editor, TechPulse360
Clean-tech IPOs have yet to prove themselves.
Sure, investor excitement is on the rise with Tesla Motors, Solyndra, Amyris and Ameresco preparing to sell shares to the public. Another potential blockbuster, Silver Spring Networks, is said to have chosen its investment bankers.
But the track record of recent green IPOs is anything but encouraging. Lithium battery maker A123 Systems went public in September and its shares trade below their introductory price.
Sensata Technologies Holding, a sensor maker from the Netherlands, is hanging onto a gain over its initial price in March, but only a modest one. Biofuel maker Codexis, which debuted its shares last week, is suffering the same fate. And the fortunes of Jinko Solar Holding of China are worse. It canceled its coming out altogether.
“The clean-tech IPOs at this stage are still proving themselves,” says Erik Straser, a partner at the venture firm Mohr Davidow Ventures and leader of its cleantech investment team. Nevertheless, “it appears the markets today are thawing.”
Straser says it is likely there will be more clean-tech IPO filings this year and even a period when less mature companies will go public. That’s because the criteria for what a company needs to interest investors is unsettled.
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