A subsidiary of global manufacturer Flex Ltd. that sells equipment and software for solar projects has filed a registration statement for an initial public offering of its shares.
Ten-year-old Nextracker Inc. has been a part of Flex since 2015 and markets its products to owners of utility-scale and ground-mounted solar projects. According to a prospectus filed with the SEC, the venture generated more than $1.4 billion in revenue for the fiscal year that ended last March and produced net income of $50.9 million. Through the first six months of Nextracker’s current fiscal year, however, revenues were on track for more than $1.7 billion and profits had already passed the previous year’s total.
Investment firm TPG nearly a year ago invested $500 million into Nextracker at a $3 billion valuation but the IPO’s target price per share as well as the number of shares to be sold (if listed, they will trade under the ticker symbol NXT) have yet to be determined; proceeds will go to Flex.
In their prospectus, Nextracker executives explain their place in the solar industry as it moves forward. The company’s technologies focused on sensor capability and future upgradability, they say, surpass the reliability, operations and performance limits of today’s systems—some of which are 30 years old. One self-adjusting product, for instance, can increase solar energy yield by about 2% versus older systems by optimizing the positions of systems’ individual tracker rows. That offering is today installed on 192 projects and contracted to be added to 52 others.
In all, Nextracker has more than 200 active customers in more than 30 countries and had about $1.3 billion worth of assets last September. The company’s prospectus is not complete and is still subject to change.
