Carbon fibre wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution (ASX:CBR) listed on the ASX midday Friday at $2.60 per share for a market capitalisation of $331.1m.

It immediately jumped 36 per cent to $3.55 per share – giving it a market capitalisation of close to $450m — before closing at $3.45.

What an entrance to listed life for the Geelong-based company.

Read: IPO Watch: Carbon Revolution wants $90m to make car wheels look fully sick

The four founders – 3 of which are still with the company – started Carbon Revolution over a decade ago to develop and commercialise their strong and light single piece carbon fibre wheel tech.

Now, these wheels are purchased by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Ford, Ferrari and Renault, plus two other unnamed global OEMs.

Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale includes Carbon Revolution wheel as an optional fitment.

In August, the company even scored a Commonwealth government grant to design carbon fibre wheels for the Australian Defence Force.

The latest deal, inked a few months ago, is for the supply of one-piece carbon fibre wheels “specifically designed for an SUV of a global automotive company (which cannot be named due to commercial confidentiality until release of the vehicle)”.

Chief exec Jake Dingle said this latest deal was significant for a number of reasons.

“Carbon Revolution already has significant existing supply programs in production with Ferrari, Ford, Renault and further programs yet to commence production with another global OEM and our wheels have been recognised as contributing to five new lap records set at the Nürburgring this year in different vehicle classes,” he says.

Like this one:

“This is a new customer for Carbon Revolution, meaning we now have five globally-recognised automotive manufacturers who have placed faith in our product,” Dingle says.

The company pulled in $15.1m in revenue in FY19, nearly double FY18, although it incurred a net loss of $22.4m.

But the company confirmed Friday that it is on track to become EBITDA positive during the fourth quarter of FY20.

“This is an exciting time for our company, our staff, and our investors many of whom have been with us for years as we have grown from a small engineering start-up to a world leader in our field,” Dingle says.

“Carbon Revolution is the only company globally to have successfully developed and manufactured single piece carbon fibre automotive wheels to OEM quality standards with commercial adoption across several major OEM models.

This public offering will assist with the next stage in expanding the business, says Dingle.

“The additional capital from the IPO will be invested in industrialisation and scaling the manufacturing process to reduce unit costs and increase production capacity.”

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