Hoku aims to raise
$62.8M in IPO

Hoku Scientific Inc., a Honolulu-based fuel-cell technology developer, expects to offer its stock for between $11 and $13 a share and could raise up to $62.8 million when it goes public.

The 4-year-old startup, which registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in April for an initial public offering, said yesterday that it will offer 4.2 million shares of common stock and will give its underwriters the option to purchase an additional 630,000 shares. The company said it will go public "as soon as practicable."

Hoku, co-founded by Dustin Shindo and Karl Taft, will become the first Hawaii company to conduct an IPO in six years. Shares will be listed on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol HOKU.

The company develops fuel-cell membranes designed to supply cleaner and cheaper energy to homes, generate fewer harmful emissions in automobiles and provide longer life to portable devices such as laptops, cell phones and hand-held digital assistants.

Hoku said it will use proceeds from the offering to expand a new facility it is building in Kapolei and continue research and development, among other things.

It would be the first Hawaii-founded company to go public since 1999, when Digital Island Inc., a seller of Internet and networking services, and Cheap Tickets Inc., a discount ticket retailer, went public within three months of each other.

The IPO is being underwritten by Piper Jaffray & Co., SG Cowen & Co. and Thomas Weisel Partners LLC.