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SPAC Rice Acquisition II (NYSE:RONI) plans to merge with natural gas and carbon capture technology developer NET Power through a deal that pegs the pro forma enterprise value of the combined company at nearly $1.5B.
The combined company will be headed by Rice Acquisition II director Danny Rice, a former chief executive officer of Rice Energy, which merged with natural gas producer EQT Corp. (EQT) in 2017.
The deal is expected to generate around $545M in net cash for the company, assuming no redemptions. Operations through 2026 will be funded in part by investment commitments from the Rice family, Occidental (OXY), Constellation (CEG), 8 Rivers, HIT Hedge and NGP.
The merger is expected to close during the second half of 2023, with shares of the combined company trading under the symbol NPWR.
Based in North Carolina, NET Power is developer and licensor of technology for lower-emission natural gas power generation. Investors include Occidental, Constellation, 8 Rivers and Baker Hughes (BKR).
Rice Acquisition II went public in June 2021, raising $300M. Its sister SPAC, Rice Acquisition, merged with Archaea Energy and Aria Energy in 2021 to create renewable natural gas producer Archaea Energy (LFG). In October, BP (BP) announced plan to acquire Archaea for $4.1B in cash.
