Wintershall Dea IPO: Revenue, Competitors, Valuation & How to Invest

Wintershall Dea is an energy firm with roots reaching back over a hundred years. The company was created through a combination of ‘Wintershall’ and ‘DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG’, two pioneering companies of oil and gas in Germany.

Both companies were at the forefront of oil drilling and production throughout the 20th century. They were also crucial to the development of the natural gas industry in Germany and Europe. This eventually resulted in a partnership between Wintershall and Russia to set up a long-term agreement for marketing Russian natural gas in Germany with Gazprom. This relationship of pipeline projects and joint ventures ended due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

In 2019, Wintershall and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG merged to become ‘Wintershall DEA’, one of Europe’s leading independent oil and gas companies, producing over 575,000 barrels of oil a day. Following the merger, BASF took a 67% stake in the business and Russian-controlled LetterOne owned the remaining 33%. As of May 2022, BASF now owns 72.7% of Wintershall DEA. The company was also a key part of financing the Nord Stream 2 project.

Below is a breakdown of some key information, including Wintershall Dea’s adjusted net income, EBITDAX, cash flow, production costs, and top energy competitors.

This is basically the profit of Wintershall Dea. ‘Adjusted’ just means this is what the profit is plus non-cash expenses (like depreciation of fixed assets) minus non-cash gains. It tells you what the profit would be if someone else were to buy and take over the company.

EBITDAX stands for ‘earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exploration expenses’ and gives a snapshot of profitability and performance.

This measures the cash being generated by Wintershall Dea’s business operations.

This is the cash being generated minus capital expenditures.

The BOE/D (barrel of oil equivalent per day) cost is a standardised way for energy and oil-related companies to measure and compare costs.

Although Wintershall Dea is one of the largest gas and oil companies in Europe, it faces global competition due to the universal application of these fuels. Some examples of competitors include:

• BP
• Shell
• Total
• Enbridge
• Rice Energy
• ExxonMobil
• Chevron
• Repsol
• Galp
• Rosneft
• Lukoil
• Eni
• Gazprom

Chief Executive Mario Mehren stated that an IPO would not take place for at least 6 months, which was back in November 2022. There is no date set, and it could take place shortly, but there are some broader issues preventing the Wintershall Dea IPO. 

When the original merger between Wintershall and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG took place in 2019, the idea was to proceed with a stock flotation on the public market in 2020. It was (and still is) most likely to be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a big spanner in the works. Wintershall Dea had close ties with Russia. The business is partly owned by LetterOne, which is controlled by Pro-Putin Russian Oligarch Mikhail Fridman. On top of this, Wintershall Dea also helped fund the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and had an ongoing partnership with Russian energy company Gazprom. 

This has created a complex situation as Wintershall Dea attempts to distance itself from its Russian business ties. So, the Wintershall Dea IPO plans were put on hold. The current high energy prices and squeezed supply have enabled Wintershall Dea to perform well financially. It is dealing with some short-term losses due to pulling out of Russia, which it should be able to recover from. But nevertheless, the ongoing conflict involving Russia has made it challenging for the company to proceed with its initial public offering. 

The Wintershall Dea could take place soon if the legal, regulatory, and business issues can be ironed out. This was due to be one of the biggest IPOs to take place in Europe, so investors are sure to be eagerly waiting for some good news relating to this stock market flotation. BASF shareholders are keen for the Wintershall Dea IPO to occur sooner rather than later so that the chemical company can focus on its usual business.

It can be possible to order Wintershall Dea shares before the IPO. This is known as a “pre-placement.” In theory, several brokers may allow you to do just that. However, the only one which has already announced it will make an effort to give access to the Wintershall Dea IPO is Freedom24.

Among other brokers, TradeStation has not announced if and when it will become available but seems open to it since they offer access to US IPOs. Please take a look at both:

1# Freedom24

Freedom24 (a brand of NASDAQ-listed Freedom Holding Corp. broker) has already offered to its 400,000+ worldwide clients participation in 280+ IPOs, including 40,000+ trade stocks, 1,500+ ETFs, 1,000+ US Stock Options, and 147,000+ bonds on the largest exchanges in Europe, Asia, and the US.

With Freedom24, the process of participating before the IPOs is incredibly straightforward:

1. Open an account with a minimum of 2,000 USD (the minimum for an IPO request);
2. Submit a request for the available IPO stocks before their respective IPO dates;
3. Freedom24 automatically credits your account with those shares purchased by them on your behalf (“oversubscribed” IPOs may make it difficult for your orders to be filled completely);
4. Sell your stocks after the 93-day lock-up period or purchase a forward sale contract through Freedom24 to lock your gains before the 93 days period.

To invest in the Wintershall Dea IPO, you will technically become a Freedom Finance client. Nothing to worry about here, that’s simply the name of the broker running the platform Freedom24. 

Want to know more about Freedom24? Check our Freedom24 review.

2# TradeStation

Founded in 1982, TradeStation is a US broker committed to offering you the best trading experience within their rewarded platforms and brokerage services. You can trade stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and crypto with competitive pricing models.

With TradeStation, you must follow these steps:

1. Open an account with a minimum of 500 USD;
2. Download the ClickIPO app (Available both on iOS and Android);
3. Register on ClickIPO’s trading platform and select TradeStation as your broker;
4. Link your TradeStation account in the “My Account” section of the ClickIPO app.

For US residents, you have zero commission trades (including the IPO stocks). For international investors, please consult their pricing here.

There is no guarantee that TradeStation will offer the Wintershall Dea IPO, still, the optionality is there. We encourage you to follow the company and wait for their official announcement. After that, ask TradeStation if they will offer it.

Alternatively, instead of placing a pre-placement order for Wintershall Dea shares before the IPO, you can wait until the public offering before attempting to buy the newly listed stock.

Interactive Brokers and eToro are two top-rated brokers where you can access Wintershall Dea shares and buy the stock with low fees after the IPO. Take a look at both these brokerage options below:

1# Interactive Brokers

Founded in 1978, the IBKR platform lets you access over 150 market destinations in 33 countries and trade any asset you may be looking for: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Forex, Funds, Commodities, Options, Futures, CFDs, Cryptos Futures, and even tiny small companies (a.k.a micro caps).

If you want to buy Wintershall Dea stock after the IPO, here’s how you can buy shares using Interactive Brokers:

1. Open a trading account with Interactive Brokers.
2. Deposit funds into your account.
3. Once it’s available, search for the Wintershall Dea stock, there is no confirmed ticker symbol right now.
4. Place the type of order you wish to use (e.g. market, limit, stop etc.).
5. Once you’ve bought your desired number of Wintershall Dea shares, continue to monitor performance.

If you’d like to learn more about the IBKR platform, check out our full-length Interactive Brokers review.

2# eToro

Founded in 2006 in Israel, eToro now has over 30 million customers worldwide. The platform is widely known for its social and copy trading features. It allows users to trade stocks, forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, CFDs, and ETFs.

If you’re planning to buy Wintershall Dea stock after the IPO, here’s how you can buy shares using eToro:

1. Open an account with eToro.
2. Head to the ‘Markets’ page, and select ‘Stocks’.
3. Search for the Wintershall Dea stock and select ‘Trade’.
4. Next, hit ‘BUY’.
5. Choose how much you want to invest in Wintershall Dea or the number of shares you want to buy.
6. Select your leverage (or ensure that leverage is set to X1).
7. Decide on a take-profit parameter if you want to automate a future sale of your Wintershall Dea stock.
8. Finally, hit ‘Open Trade’.

If you’d like to learn more about eToro, check out our in-depth eToro review.

Bottom line on investing in the Wintershall Dea IPO

There have been plenty of delays since the initial plan for the Wintershall Dea IPO (initial public offering) to happen in 2020. For a time, it looked like the flotation would be postponed indefinitely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it now looks like BASF shareholders are keen for the IPO to move forward while energy prices are high and Wintershall Dea has mostly disentangled itself from Russia. 

Oil and gas companies aren’t trendy investments, but the recent conflict and energy crisis in Europe has shown that we still need these fuels for the time being as we transition to cleaner energy. This green transition won’t take place overnight. Because Wintershall Dea has already had a significant interruption to its business, it’s forced the company to research sustainable long-term strategies for providing energy to Europe.

When the Wintershall Dea IPO takes place, it’s likely to be a big deal for investors and the European stock markets. The firm is still struggling with costs relating to its withdrawal from Russia, but long-term prospects look good in terms of the company’s finances. This is an IPO that could take place any moment now, and I’m sure investors across Europe and the rest of the world will be excited about picking up shares in Wintershall Dea after its IPO. 

Let us know in the comments below if you plan on investing in the Wintershall Dea IPO!