French Hydrogen Start-up Raises €180mn

France's McPhy, which specialises in hydrogen production and distribution equipment, has raised €180mn ($212mn) through a capital offering, it announced on October 14.

The offering was oversubscribed several times, enabling the company to increase its size from an original plan of €150mn. The subscription price for new shares was set at €23.50, representing a 8.6% discount to the last closing price.

US liquefaction and cryogenic equipment maker Chart Industries said the previous day it intended to invest €30mn ($35.3mn) in McPhy in the offering, giving it a 4.3% stake in the company. McPhy also attracted investment from Technip Energies, EDF Pulse Croissance Holding and Ecotechnologies Fund, managed by Bipfrance Investissement.

McPhy also signed memorandums with Chart and Technip, "setting collaboration frameworks to unlock new commercial opportunities globally in numerous hydrogen domains."

With this support, McPhy is "ideally positioned to scale-up its industrial capabilities, both from an operational and financial perspective," CEO Laurent Carme said. "Our new strategic partnerships, with two world leading companies in their field, bring to McPhy important possibilities of complementarity, an increased international exposure and the ability to target large-scale projects."