China's energy efficiency company Nobao Renewable Energy Holdings Ltd revived its plan for a U.S. listing on Friday, filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of up to $300 million.
Private equity-backed Nobao had previously filed for the same-sized IPO in April 2010 and later trimmed back the size to $180 million. Nobao eventually scrapped the plan to go public in June 2010 amid high market volatility caused by the debt crisis in Europe.
The Shanghai-based company mostly works on commercial buildings, installing special modules that use energy stored underground to heat and cool the buildings and heat water.
In the year since it scrapped its previous plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange, Nobao has garnered support of private equity firm Silver Lake [SILAK.UL]. The buyout firm has already invested $12.5 million and has options to invest another $97.5 million later, according to Nobao's filing.
Also, Cayman Islands-incorporated Nobao, which operates through its units in China, in January received a contract to set up the energy supply for Su-Tong Science and Technology Park, an urban development project in the Jiangsu Province.
The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering in part to fund the Su-Tong Project. The proceeds will also go toward more energy management contracts and for general purposes, according to the filing.
Nobao, whose revenue more than doubled to $52.8 million in 2010, plans to list its American depository shares on the NYSE under the symbol "NRE." NRE.N The company's net loss per ADS increased to $3.22 per ADS in 2010 from a loss of 98 cents per ADS the year before.
Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and UBS are underwriting Nobao's IPO. UBS and Citi led underwriters on Nobao's previous offering plan.
