Shares of Aker’s Carbon and Wind Spinoffs Surge on their First Day of Trading

During Wednesday trading, shares of Aker Carbon Capture (ACC-ME.OL) and Aker Offshore Wind (AOW-ME.OL) surged on their stock market debut in Oslo. The surge led to a boost in the Aker conglomerate spin-off move of its environmental technology.

Aker Solutions which is controlled by Kjell Inge Roekke, a Norwegian billionaire announced last month that both firms would each raise 500 million Norwegian crowns ($55.9 million) before listing on Oslo’s Merkur Market.

Aker Carbon Capture traded at 5.4 crowns at 1010 GMT, more than three times from the 1.7 crown price of the initial public offering (IPO). The company helps other companies cut their CO2 emissions. Aker Carbon Capture is currently building carbon capture plants, with one located at Heidelberg’s cement factory in Brevik where it will also make use of a patented technology developed by Aker Solutions. Carbon Capture is an environmental technology that is used to reduce emissions from industries like cement factories, which makes up about 7% of global CO2 emissions.

Aker Offshore Wind traded at 3.3 crowns, more than double the subscription price of 1.47 crowns. The company focuses on the development and operation of floating offshore wind farms which could facilitate the harvesting of wind energy in deep water that would not accommodate seabed-fixed turbines.

The companies’ performance was fueled by investors who are determined to own companies with strong influence in environmental social, corporate governance (ESG), according to Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Magnus Olsvik.

“There is limited availability of such stocks in Norway, and the price reflects the lack of supply,” Olsvik said.

The company said it also had California and South Korea, Scotland, and Norway in view for its next projects which could provide a 1.5-gigawatt (GW) net power capacity.

The company also plans to develop offshore wind farms in California and South Korea in partnership with Ocean Winds.