Alinta Energy valued ahead of planned float

Alinta Energy has been valued at between $4 billion and $5.197bn by Goldman Sachs ahead of a planned float.

Macquarie, meanwhile, estimates that the company is worth between $3.8bn and $4.36bn, or $3.06bn to $3.62bn for its market value.

Analyst marketing for the company begins today, ahead of its plans to raise up to about $2bn for an initial public offering before Christmas.

Analysts from Goldmans have put the equity value at between $3.2bn and $4.38bn, while the $4bn to $5.197bn range is on an enterprise value basis.

The valuation estimates equate to between 10 and 13 times Alinta’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Macquarie’s valuation ranges equate to between 10 and 11.5 times its annual EBITDA on an enterprise value basis for fiscal 2017 and between 9 times and 10.4 times for fiscal 2018.

Elsewhere, UBS analysts estimate that the company’s market value is between $3.587bn and $4.115bn on an enterprise value basis and $2.775bn and $3.3bn on an equity value basis.

The UBS analyst range equates to between 9.5 and 10.8 times the company’s EBITDA.

Morgan Stanley’s pricing estimates for Alinta are between eight and 10 times its EBITDA, while those for Credit Suisse are between 9.2 and 10.3 times.

The energy provider is owned by various groups including TPG Capital and numerous hedge funds, which picked up the business in a rescue attempt after it almost collapsed during the global financial crisis.

The compelling aspect of the company is the high yield being offered, and capital has since been invested in the business.

However, while the West Australian retail division is a strongly performing operation, the portfolio has been described as an eclectic mix of assets, and the float is happening after failed attempts to sell the company this year for about $5bn in a trade sale and attempts about a year ago for close to $6bn.

Alinta’s forecasted EBITDA for fiscal 2017 is $379.3m and $420m for fiscal 2018, according to Goldman’s research.

The numbers come after The Australian’s DataRoom revealed in September that the group would likely list with a market value range between $3.3bn and $5.2bn and an enterprise value of between $4.5bn and $6.4bn.