J. Sassoon expects to help raise up to $100 million (R1,4 billion) in private placement funding for Bluedrop’s second round of funding for its pre-IPO campaign, before its shares float on the NYSE.
Black-owned Bluedrop Energy, a South African gas startup company, will take an unprecedented step for a start-up, barely established in the past year. Bluedrop has announced that it plans to list its shares on the NYSE in New York, USA and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), South Africa. The company will first float its shares on the NYSE in 2022, while its JSE listing will follow at a yet to be confirmed data.
J. Sassoon Group Chairman, David Sassoon said the idea of listing in 2022 is perfectly timed as the South African market is in desperate need for foreign capital infusion. “The potential floating of Bluedrop’s shares in New York is going to help Bluedrop grow exponentially through asset acquisitions making it one of the leading LPG wholesalers and composite LPG cylinder manufacturers in Africa,” he explained.
On his organisation’s Bluedrop’s CEO, Kenneth Maduna, remarked, “The listing on the stock market will elevate our profile within the energy sector and investment community. It will surely expand our investor base. It is a value accretive step in the growth of Bluedrop as a relatively new entrant in the energy markets and it fits in perfectly with our acquisitive growth strategy.”
Bluedrop’s decided to list on the NYSE after noticing the drought of investments in South Africa’s capital market, which, alternatively, prompted the company to seek funding abroad. Ideally, local entrepreneurs and investors should source funding locally. unfortunately, the investment opportunities end up being transferred to New York and London, which results in local capital continuing to flow to foreign markets.
J. Sassoon expects to help raise up to $100 million (R1,4 billion) in private placement funding for Bluedrop’s second round of funding for its pre-IPO campaign, before its shares float on the NYSE. J. Sassoon Group is advising Bluedrop on its planned initial public offering in collaboration and consultation with its U.S. based industry partners and a local broker dealer firm in South Africa.
In April this year, Bluedrop announced that it has secured a $20 million (R300 million) funding from J. Sassoon Group, a US, Washington DC based private equity and investment firm for the construction of Bluedrop’s modern state of the art Smart Composite LPG Cylinder manufacturing plant. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) of the US has also issued a letter of interest providing $36m (R497m) finance guarantee in support of J Sassoon Group for this project.
Last month, J. Sassoon Group signed a Technical Services Agreement (TSA) with the South African office of a US based multinational engineering firm, Fluor Corporation, for the development of Bluedrop’s smart composite LPG cylinder manufacturing plant.
Bluedrop Energy is a 100% black owned South African company manufacturing and servicing LPG Composite Cylinders. The company is also a wholesale supplier and distributor of LPG in South Africa and the entire SADC region. B
J. Sassoon Group (formerly known as Sassoon & Co.) is a financial advisory and private equity firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily managing the assets of the Sassoon Family Continuation Trust. It is the world’s oldest independent investment firm, with principal executive offices in Washington DC.
