Idacorp funds capex with upsized US$500m forward
Idacorp powered into the market late Thursday with an upsized US$500m forward sale of equity, funding a portion of the growing capex planned over the next five years.
Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Mizuho and MUFG priced 4.5m shares overnight Thursday at US$111, in the lower half of the US$110.50–$112.50 range marketed and a 2.4% discount to the US$113.68 last sale price Thursday. The banks were able to increase the offering size to US$500m from the US$450m fixed size marketed.
Midday Friday, the regulated Idaho utility’s shares were trading at US$113.38, down 0.3% on the day but solidly above offer.
On its first quarter earnings call a week prior, Idacorp affirmed plans to spend US$5.8bn on capex over the next five years, double the amount spent over the prior five years.
The stock offering was structured as a forward sale with a settlement period over the next 18 months for cash or shares, providing flexibility on funding needs while mitigating dilution in the interim.
Idacorp had said it would need to raise US$1.4bn of equity to meet the full US$5.8bn capex plan. The utility had raised US$144m from the forward sale of stock under an ATM programme that it has yet to settle.
Chobani and Tractor Supply are both Idacorp customers that have announced plans to expand, and another unidentified large customer expects its project to come online in 2029.
One Gas, a regulated natural gas utility with operations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, separately locked in up to US$197.5m of contingent equity late Thursday through an overnight block sale of stock, also structured as a forward sale.
Sole bookrunner JP Morgan offloaded its purchase of 2.5m shares or 4% of outstanding at US$79, the bottom of the US$79–$79.71 range and a 0.9% discount to the US$79.71 last sale price Thursday.
One Gas shares were trading midday Friday at US$76.84 or slightly below offer.