Rice Acquisition Corp. II (RONI) Shareholders Approve NET Power Deal

Rice II (NYSE: RONI) announced in an 8-K today that its shareholders have approved its combination with energy technology company NET Power with relatively low redemptions.

In the end, 21,195,224 shares were redeemed in connection vote, removing 61% of Rice II’s trust. This is the second best result among the 32 deals that have come to close in 2023, beaten only by AMCI II, which saw about 55.7% of shares redeemed by the close of its combination with LanzaTech.

It is perhaps telling that both of these de-SPACs are clean energy deals with significant backing by strategic investors. NET Power is to receive in the end about $675 million in gross proceeds including a $540 million PIPE.

This PIPE included a $275 million investment from strategic partner Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and $50 million from the SK Group, which plans to launch a joint venture with NET Power to deploy its natural gas plants in Asia.

Rice II announced its $1.5 billion business combination with NET Power in December 2022. Durham, North Carolina-based NET Power has developed technology to create natural gas-fired plants that capture nearly 100% of their potential CO2 emissions.

It expects its first full-scale facility to go online in 2026 in the Permian Basin of West Texas. This is to provide about 300 MW in power capacity to the area with construction slated to begin in the second half of 2024.