Archaea Energy, which combined with Rice Acquisition Corp. in September 2021, announced that it has agreed to be acquired by BP (NYSE:BP) for $26 per share.
The price is a 38% premium to Archaea’s 30-day VWAP and represents a major victory for a de-SPAC at time when the market has been rather short on good SPAC news. Rice initially struck its combination with Archaea at an enterprise value of $1.15 billion in April 2021 and now 18 months after the announcement, Archaea has more than tripled this valuation to $4.1 billion in the sale.
The original business combination was also somewhat unique in that it was a three-way merger between Aria Energy and Archaea, the former of which was larger, and the latter was a portfolio company of Rice’s sponsor, Rice Investment Group.
Archaea produces renewable natural gas captured from waste emissions out of farms and landfills, and, as such, in some ways cuts the profile of a new technology player at a time when the market has scrutinized such companies. But, it was also fully commercialized and profitable before launching its SPAC deal.
It generated $76.1 million in EBITDA in 2021 and has further benefitted from world events that have accelerated momentum towards energy resources that are renewable and not coming from Russia.
From BP’s point of view, Archaea will add more clean energy resources to its portfolio and by the same token reduce the weight of the dirtier sides of its operations. That could potentially be a strategy that other strategic players could employ with several renewable energy de-SPACs seemingly undervalued by market conditions.
McKinley Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ:MKLYU) has filed for a $150 million SPAC to hunt for an innovative target company with an experienced financial team that has dabbled in SPACs before. The new SPAC is offering investors one right to a 1/10 share in each unit with no overfunding of the trust, but it could provide a...
At the SPAC of Dawn The rain of SPACs has continued with four expected to make their debuts during today’s trading sessions after pricing their IPOs overnight. The largest of these, EQV Ventures II (NASDAQ:EVACU), even managed an upsize, making it the largest SPAC IPO since Ares II (NYSE:AACT) pulled together $450 million in 2023....
EQV Ventures II (NASDAQ:EVACU) announced the pricing of its upsized $420 million IPO and its units are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “EVACU”, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. The new SPAC plans to merge with an energy target involved in upstream exploration or production. EQV II’s management team is led by...
Vendome Acquisition Corporation I (NASDAQ:VNMEU) announced the pricing of its $200 million IPO and its units are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “VNMEU”, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. The new SPAC plans to focus its search on target business in the consumer sector operating in North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe....
Origin Investment Corp. I (NASDAQ:ORIQU) announced the pricing of its $60 million IPO and its units are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “ORIQU”, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. The new SPAC aims to mount a broad search for a target with a strong management and both revenue and earnings growth potential....