Catcha and Crown will merge, based on a pre-money valuation of Crown at around $600m, and an enterprise valuation of PubCo to be around $685m, which will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol CGBS
Crown LNG to merger with Catcha Investment. (Credit: ADIGUN AMPA on Unsplash)
Crown LNG Holdings has agreed to merge with Catcha Investment, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), to become a publicly listed company in the US.
The combined company, dubbed Crown LNG Holdings (PubCo), will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol CGBS.
Under the terms of the agreement, Catcha will merge with Crown based on a pre-money valuation of Crown at around $600m, and enterprise valuation of PubCo to be around $685m.
The transaction would provide $50m of capital, with net proceeds to potentially fund the Kakinada and Grangemouth projects to the final investment decision (FID).
It has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both parties.
The proposed transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions.
Upon closing, the existing Crown leadership team will continue in the same positions.
Patrick Grove from Catcha said: “The LNG market is being driven by strong market tailwinds, including rising energy security concerns and the increasing use of natural gas as a transition fuel with a tenth of the emissions of coal-fired plants.
“Crown will help to enable LNG access for under-served markets which have been traditionally ignored by existing operators and at the same time benefit everyone in the ecosystem – customers, governments, producers and investors.
“There is clearly a massive addressable market and use case in regions which experience harsh weather conditions, and we strongly believe that Crown, with their deep industry experience and innovative culture, will be a leader in addressing that demand.”
Crown is engaged in providing LNG liquefaction service, which involves supercooling the natural gas from producers to a liquid for transport by ship as LNG.
It also regasification terminal technologies which help LNG to be turned back into gas and delivered to consumers and businesses as natural gas.
The company operates offshore LNG terminals in places where onshore facilities are not feasible due to harsh weather, safety, cost, or environmental impact.
The harsh weather locations represent an addressable market for its bottom-fixed, gravity-based (GBS) liquefaction and regasification plants, along with other projects, said Crown.
Crown CEO Swapan Kataria said: “This business combination with Catcha is a transformative step for accelerating Crown’s growth, with the aim to provide its investors with a stable, long-term return on their investment.
“Our targeted blue-chip potential customer base will reflect the strong and growing global demand for harsh weather LNG infrastructure allowing for year-round operation to enable the global energy transition and ensure energy security by facilitating access to reliable natural gas supplies, as well as hydrogen, ammonia and power.
“The capital raised in this transaction will further strengthen our ability to execute on our diversified project pipeline in India, the UK, Vietnam, Canada, and other global markets.”
Cohen & Company Capital Markets, a division of JVB Financial Group (CCM) served as the exclusive financial advisor and lead capital markets advisor to Catcha, on the transaction.
WestOak Advisors, in partnership with CCM, served as energy capital markets advisor to Catcha, while Emerging Asia Capital Partners (EACP) served as financial advisors to Crown.
In addition, Goodwin Procter served as legal counsel to Catcha, while Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough serves as legal counsel to Crown.