NASCO AG completes investment grade refinance – helium assets at DBK Field in Arizona

Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as Sole Structuring Advisor and Sole Bookrunner on the transaction which was sold to an investment group led by Nuveen, a New York-based investment firm.

NASCO CEO Jan Warstat stated, ‟We are extremely pleased with the confidence shown in us by the investment community that recognizes the strength of our assets, management and our development plan. The ability to raise investment grade capital that has been rated by a leading Rating Agency in New York significantly reduces our interest exposure and adds to the net cash flow to the Company as well as underscoring management confidence in our assets.  Nasco believes the DBK project is the first ABS transaction for a company that drills, completes, refines and sells its own Helium, underscored by a 13 year long term supply contract.”

NASCO Energie & Rohstoff AG has been making targeted investments to expand their helium activities since 2014. Previously, their helium production focused solely on a site in Arizona with the Navajo name Dineh-bi-Keyah (DBK), which is located in northeast Arizona, an area known as the Four Corners region. What makes the DBK field so remarkable is that its raw gas has an above-average helium content of more than five percent, a rare global occurrence. In comparison, the gas starts being economically worth extracting when it has helium content of 0.5 percent.

NASCO is the controlling shareholder of the DBK. The company has a long-term supply agreement with Praxair Inc., the leading industrial gas company in the USA.

Increasing Global Demand for Helium:

Global demand for the noble gas helium is increasing, yet its availability on this planet is limited. This is driving helium prices up. The USA is the biggest market for helium, followed by Asia and Europe. Helium has many commercial and scientific uses worldwide.