Water infrastructure innovator Rubicon Water hit the boards this week in an IPO that saw three leading ethical investment managers take the entire $42.6 million listing. At $1 per share, the company was valued at $172 million before it hit the market.
Australian Ethical, Ellerston, and Ethical Partners were the three firms that nabbed the allocation from broker, Bell Potter.
The company was established in 1995 in Melbourne, focussed on ensuring our most valuable asset, water, is not wasted. They developed industrial scale technology to manage gravity-fed irrigation networks, offering cutting edge technology that allows for remote control that boosts efficiency and reduces water loss.
Their customers include governments, water authorities and farmers who are all eager for technological solutions to reduce the loss of an asset that becoming increasingly scarce.
The company produces its own software from its Melbourne head office, and manufactures the bulk of its devices at a factory also in Victoria.
Rubicon has had close ties with Melbourne University since early research projects in 1998.
“The University is proud of our long-standing relationship with Rubicon, and the joint opportunity to develop cutting edge technology that is reshaping agricultural practices across the globe,” says Executive Director Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, Ken Jefferd. “Rubicon is an example of how commercialising research can be for the benefit of society, and the kind of venture the University of Melbourne is committed to supporting.”
The company says capital raised will go to expanding their offering offshore after they won a competitive tender for a $200 million project in Karnataka, India.
At the time of publication Rubicon stock has seen solid gains since listing, pushing to $1.82.