Some of Plug Power's GenDrive products

Fuel cell technology leader Plug Power Inc achieved net proceeds of about USD13.6 million from an underwritten public offering of 13 million shares of its common stock.

In a 28 March announcement, the firm says each share in the previously announced offering sold at a price of USD1.15, with gross proceeds of about USD15 million - from which underwriting discounts, commissions, fees and expenses were deducted.

Investment banking firm Roth Capital Partners LLC of Newport Beach, California acted as the sole manager for the offering.

Plug Power concentrates on developing, manufacturing and commercially selling hydrogen-fueled proton-exchange-membrane GenDrive-brand products for industrial off-road applications involving forklifts and other materials handling equipment. Plug Power has shipped more than 2,000 GenDrive units to materials handling customers and the systems have accumulated more than 5.5 million hours of runtime.

A 1997 joint venture between Edison Development Corp and Mechanical Technology Inc led to the formation of Plug Power and, subsequently, the 2007 acquisitions of Cellex Power Products Inc and General Hydrogen Corp.

Plug Power became the first fuel cell company to offer a complete suite of products for Class 1 sit-down counterbalance trucks, Class 2 stand-up reach trucks and Class 3 rider pallet trucks. Recently, the firm estimated that it has an 85% marketshare in its niche.

Andy Marsh, Plug Power president and chief executive officer, projects that the global market for the firm's products could exceed USD20 billion.

Publicly traded Latham-based Plug Power reported a loss of USD27.5 million on 2011 sales of USD23.2 million.