LNG developer Venture Global files for US IPO
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Venture Global, one of the biggest US liquefied natural gas developers, has filed for an initial public offering, as it looks to tap into investor excitement over a potential boom in exports under president-elect Donald Trump.
The company, which has plans to build and operate five LNG terminals on the US Gulf Coast, submitted IPO paperwork to the US Securities Exchange Commission on Friday. The expected size of the New York Stock Exchange listing was not disclosed.
The Financial Times has previously reported the company is planning to raise $3bn to $4bn, which would be the biggest energy listing in more than a decade — and one of the largest in US history.
JPMorgan analysts have estimated Venture Global’s enterprise value at $100bn, including a large amount of debt raised to build its terminals.
Venture Global’s IPO plans comes as LNG developers are expected to be among the key beneficiaries of Trump’s return to the White House. The president-elect has vowed to slash red tape to drive up oil and gas production and exports in pursuit of a policy of “US energy dominance”.
The IPO documents show Venture Global has raised about $54bn to build its terminals and pay operating expenses since it was founded 11 years ago. It has earned nearly $20bn in gross revenues over that time, while long-term contracts are expected to generate revenues of $107bn in coming years.
Venture Global was founded by ex-banker Mike Sabel and lawyer Robert Pender, who control 84 per cent of the company’s shares. They were paid $33.5mn and $28.5mn respectively in 2023.
But the company has courted controversy. It is embroiled in a dispute with Shell, BP and several other key customers, which allege it reneged on billions of dollars of long-term contracts when LNG prices spiked following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
These clients are pursuing arbitration claims worth at least $5bn against the company, which the IPO documents warn could result in “substantial” payments and certain long-term contracts being terminated and could lead to a rise in debt levels.
The IPO documents also show some former employees are suing Venture Global for damages worth $214mn in relation to alleged breaches of certain stock option agreements.
Venture Global, which plans to debut under the ticker “VG”, has grown rapidly over the past decade, riding a wave of global demand for US gas. Its first terminal, Calcasieu Pass, came online in March 2022 as gas prices soared amid the fallout from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
A second project, Plaquemines, began producing LNG this month. The company has plans to build additional facilities that would expand its total export capacity to 100mn tonnes a year — more than the entire LNG output of some countries.
But Joe Biden’s administration has frustrated Venture Global’s rapid growth plans. Its third project, CP2, is awaiting a Department of Energy export license, a process that has been held up by a permit freeze enacted last January.
A department report released this week suggested the industry’s continued unbridled expansion would drive up domestic fuel prices and undermine global climate goals.
Trump has vowed to end the moratorium and ratchet up US production, which at a capacity of 11.4bn cubic feet a day is already the world’s biggest supplier. Five projects under construction are set to bring this figure to 24.4bn cf/d by the end of 2028, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
