Global Ethanol eyes $467.3m ASX listing -


Brisbane-based ethanol producer Global Ethanol Holdings says it will list on the Australian Stock Exchange, announcing a $US350 million ($A467.26 million) initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO will be priced between $4.60 and $5.80.
After listing the company said it would have a market capitalisation of between $US669 million ($A890 million) and $US750 million ($A1.0 billion).
Global Ethanol, which has lodged its prospectus and expects to list on August 21, has forecast a net profit of $31.6 million for 2006/07.
It has also forecast total revenue of $US249.4 million ($A332.96 million) in 2006/07.
The company said there was attractive growth prospects for the ethanol industry in the US.
In May the company announced plans to build a $US160 million ($A213.6 million) ethanol plant in Iowa, United States, which would produce 380 million litres of ethanol a year.
Global Ethanol said it expected the production of ethanol, a clean-burning fuel made from renewable sources, to grow to 30 billion litres a year by 2012 from the current 17 billion litres a year in the US.
Current high gasoline prices had pushed interest in alternative fuels and Global Ethanol said it expected gasoline prices would remain high, creating a favourable economic environment for its product.
The company has three years of production under its belt with the Lakota and Riga plants in the US and has outlined possible expansions at both operations.
It said one of the risks associated with these expansions was construction costs which have not yet been fixed and could be greater than anticipated.
The IPO is open only to institutions, including offshore institutions and other sophisticated and professional investors.
© 2006 AAP