Battery maker A123 Systems charged from IPO
The Watertown, Mass.-based company, which was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, saw its share prices rise over 50 percent from its offering price to close at over $20.
Through the initial public offering, the company is expected to raise over $400 million, Reuters reported. It had initially hoped to net $250 million but adjusted its offering price to raise more.
A123 Systems' IPO has been closely watched in the green tech community because it is one of only a few energy-related companies started this decade to go public. It currently supplies batteries for power tools and has built large, megawatt-scale batteries for utilities.
It's also eyeing the automotive sector, a potentially much larger market. A123 Systems received a $249.1 million grant from the Department of Energy to build a lithium ion battery packs factory in Michigan as part of a $2.4 billion investment in the plug-in electric car supply chain.
A123 Systems' IPO was the second most successful of the year, Reuters reported. A123 initially filed to go public in August of 2008.
Although it was a strong IPO, some energy storage experts say that lithium ion batteries, which will be used in a number of upcoming plug-in electric vehicles, need to come down in costs significantly for electric cars to be more mainstream.
