Yara International ASA has today (Wednesday, May 4) announced that it is considering listing its clean ammonia business on the stock market.
The company has retained the services of investment firms ABG Sundal Collier and J.P. Morgan to evaluate a potential initial public offering (IPO) of Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA) on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
The evaluation is focused on attracting minority investors in YCA which was established as a separate business unit in February 2021.
The move reflects the Norwegian-based company’s strategic ambition to “enable the hydrogen economy”.
Yara believes that clean ammonia will play a crucial role in zero-emission shipping fuel, power generation, green fertiliser production and other industrial applications.
As part of the evaluation process, YCA assets and contracts will be organised into dedicated entities and subsidiaries that, for now, will remain under Yara’s ownership.
The company said that potential IPO would raise capital to accelerate the growth of YCA, better realise the value of the business and support increased management focus.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Svein Tore Holsether, CEO and president of Yara said:
“The decision to evaluate a potential IPO of Yara Clean Ammonia represents a natural next step as Yara executes its strategy to broaden its business model.
“YCA remains core to Yara’s strategy and Yara will continue to provide long-term backing to YCA as its majority owner and preferred partner.
“As the world’s largest ammonia distributor – backed by own production assets and logistics infrastructure – Yara and YCA are uniquely positioned to capture value and take a leading position in the clean ammonia market,” he said.
YCA sourced, transported and sold more than 4 million tonnes of ammonia in 2021.
YCA’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the last 12 months was $166 million as per its first quarter in 2022.