USA Compression sets stock offering

At $25.59 a share, $137.9 million net is expected from offering, firm says.

Austin-based USA Compression Partners LP on Wednesday set pricing for a stock offering that it expects to net about $138 million for the company, according to securities filings.

The company, which provides gas-compression equipment and services to oil and gas companies, said Tuesday that it planned to sell 5.6 million common shares of stock. The company also said two of its current investors — Argonaut Private Equity and Jason Martin — planned to sell 1 million shares between them. They collectively could sell up to 990,000 more shares if underwriters choose to purchase additional shares. USA Compression Partners will not receive any of the pro- ceeds from the investors’ offerings, according to the securities filing.

On Wednesday, USA Compression Partners priced the offering at $25.59 per common share. At that price, the company said it expects to net $137.9 million from the offering after discounts, commissions and offering expenses.

The company said it plans use the proceeds to pay down existing credit obligations and for general business purposes.

USA Compression Partners raised $198 million in a January 2013 initial public offering. In 2013, the company had record revenue of $152.9 million, up 28.7 percent from $118.8 million in 2012. Net income more than doubled, to $11.1 million from $4.5 million.

For the first quarter of this year, USA Compression Partners’ revenue rose 54 percent

to $50.2 million, compared with $32.6 million in the same quarter last year. The company had net income of $3.9 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with net income of $4.4 million, or 12 cents per share, for the same period last year.

Founded in 1998, USA Compression Partners is one of the largest gas-compression service providers in the nation. It leases systems that compress natural gas to create the pressure needed for production and transportation.

The company’s equipment is used in key gas production areas, including the Eagle Ford and Barnett shale fields in Texas.

USA Compression Partners’ stock finished the day Wednesday down $1.92, or 7.17 percent, at $24.85.