LNG Firm Venture Global Raises $1.75 Billion in Downsized IPO

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(Bloomberg) — Venture Global Inc. has raised… $1.75 billion in its initial public offering, pricing its shares in the middle of a marketing range.

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The Arlington, Virginia, company sold 70 million shares for $25 each, according to a statement.

The pricing gives it a market capitalization of $60.5 billion, based on the number of outstanding shares listed in a previous filing, well short of its original target of $110 billion.

Venture Global on Wednesday cut the price range for its IPO by more than 40% and increased the number of shares offered, after investors approached during marketing for a smaller pool.

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The $50 billion difference between the original valuation target for the natural gas exporter and the actual number is one of the largest percentage declines on record for a large IPO. However, at this price, Venture Global’s offering is the largest IPO in the U.S. energy sector since Shoals Technologies Group Inc. $2.2 billion in 2021, data compiled by the Bloomberg Show.

Venture Global offered 70 million shares for $23 to $27 each, after earlier marketing 50 million shares for $40 to $46 each.

However, the listing adds to the growing momentum in the US IPO market. Debut stock sales raised nearly $43 billion last year, a 64% increase in 2023 volume yet still below the average in the decade before the pandemic, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Venture Global’s net income was $756 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30 on revenue of $3.4 billion, versus net income of $3.6 billion on revenue of $6.3 billion in the same period in 2023, according to a report.

The IPO turns the spotlight on Venture Global’s founders, Mike Sabel, 57, and Bob Pender, 71, who initially viewed it as outsiders in the established energy industry.

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CEO Sabel’s salary was $7.5 million in 2024, according to the S-1 report, while Pender was paid $3.5 million.

In 2023, Sabel and Pender each received bonuses worth $26 million. The filing also revealed $2.7 million was spent on personal security for Sable Residences.

LNG is expected to play an increasingly central role in global energy markets in the coming years, as countries seek a burning alternative to oil and coal. The United States’ position as the world’s largest supplier of the fuel is about to grow stronger, as President Donald Trump has directed his Energy Department to resume reviewing applications for liquefied natural gas export terminals. The move reverses any order Joe Biden has ordered to disrupt plans for multi-billion dollar export projects by Venture Global and others.

The company has been exporting gas from its Calcasieu Pass facility in Louisiana since 2022 and sent its first shipment of Plaquemines LNG, located outside New Orleans, in December. With PlaqueMines fully operational, Venture Global is set to become the second-largest LNG producer in the United States, behind Cheniere Energy Inc.

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Venture Global is trying to build a more integrated supply chain than some of its peers. It has acquired capacity at facilities in the UK and Greece, where the LNG will be repackaged and sent to end users, a strategy that will allow the company to win greater market share, according to a perusal of its filings.

Pending arbitration claims against Venture Global in cases by eight separate companies, including some oil majors, amounting to $5.9 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The claims allege the company did not deliver gas to customers in Calcasieu Pass that had signed up to long-term contracts. A Project World spokesman said the issues had no contractual or other basis.

The company’s Class A shares will provide investors with one vote per share, while Pender and Sabel will retain control of the company through Class B shares, which offer 10 votes each.

The offering is led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. The company plans to trade its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VG.

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