ProFrac Holding Corp., an oilfield services company backed by billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, priced its IPO at $18 per share, well below its target range, valuing the firm at $1.7 billion.

The company had earlier set the indicative price range at between $21 and $24 apiece.


UPDATE:

Wilks Brothers-backed ProFrac Sees Tepid NASDAQ Debut


ProFrac’s listing, which raised $288 million from the issue of 16 million new shares, comes in a rocky year for U.S. capital markets and underscores the challenges facing IPO-bound Reddit Inc and Mobileye, the self-driving car unit of Intel Corp.

Several companies have postponed or shelved their U.S. listing plans as the Russia-Ukraine war and the prospect of aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve roil global markets.

Excelerate Energy’s IPO in April was a bright spot, however, as the provider of floating LNG terminals benefited from the war boosting energy prices and driving up demand for LNG.

Founded in 2016, ProFrac provides hydraulic fracturing services with operations primarily focused in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Uinta and the Appalachian regions.

J.P. Morgan, Piper Sandler and Morgan Stanley were the lead underwriters for the offering.