Gas engine maker Innio jumps 23% in Nasdaq debut as investors bet on data center boom

By Arasu Kannagi Basil

June 4 (Reuters) - Innio's shares closed up 23% on Thursday in a strong start for the gas engine manufacturer, as a red-hot streak of new listings from AI infrastructure-linked companies continued.

‌Munich, Germany-based Innio's stock opened at $31 apiece and closed at $33.30, giving the firm a market value of about $25 billion.

Innio's principal shareholder, AI Alpine, co-owned by funds managed by Advent and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, sold 90 million shares in an upsized offering at $27 each, the top end of the marketed range of $24 to $27 apiece to raise $2.43 billion.

Investors are piling into companies underpinning the AI buildout, broadening enthusiasm beyond chip firms to the "picks and shovels" businesses supplying the infrastructure needed to support the technology's expansion.

Innio sits at the heart of the AI boom — addressing its growing energy requirements by providing power generation systems for data centers.

"The market backdrop is very supportive for companies building the physical backbone of AI, with investors rewarding firms that can show revenue and a link to data-center demand — including power, cooling, grid equipment, renewables and so forth," IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer said.

"This strong interest also comes from the fact that it is not a speculative early-stage 'AI story' but has an established history with GE heritage."

Innio was formed in 2018 when U.S. buyout firm Advent International carved out General ​Electric's distributed ⁠power business in a $3.25 billion deal.

DATA CENTER BOOM

Innio makes gas engines under the Jenbacher and Waukesha brands for data centers, microgrids, grid stabilization, industrial energy, and gas compression.

One of its key customers is the German city of Kiel, where it provides power and heat to thousands of people.

Demand for Innio's gas engines has boomed as data center operators increasingly seek alternative power systems to reduce exposure to ​grid constraints.

AI's energy requirements are immense, with generative AI requiring far more electricity than traditional computing tasks.

Innio's data center equipment orders have surged to $1 billion as of March 31 from $309 million a year earlier. It has landed some marquee wins, including an agreement for a multi-gigawatt power plant.

"Over the next few earnings cycles, the stock will be judged on whether Innio can convert its growth story into the sustained revenue that justifies the current AI premium," Muehlbauer said.

"The key for the company will be to show that the growth in equipment orders can continue and turn into long-term service revenue. For data centers, reliability is important and gas engines need maintenance over many years."

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Devika Syamnath and Shreya Biswas)