Green Biologics (GBL) has announced the closing of an internal follow-on equity round of $42 million co-led by Swire Pacific Limited (HKEX: 00019/00087) and Sofinnova Partners. Existing investors Capricorn Venture Partners, Oxford Capital Partners, Morningside Technology Partners and ConvergInce Holdings, LLC also participated in the round.
In addition to the $42 million internal equity round, an additional $34 million in funding was raised predominantly in debt financing from Tennenbaum Capital Partners (TCP), along with equity and debt investment rolled over by existing members of Central MN Ethanol Co-op LLC (CMEC) in Central MN Renewables LLC (CMR), a U.S. affiliate of GBL. This $76 million financing follows GBL’s previous equity round of $25 million in December 2013, bringing GBL’s total fund raising to just over $100 million since late 2013.
On December 23, 2014, GBL announced the acquisition of the assets of CMEC, a 21 million gallon per year ethanol producer in Little Falls, Minnesota through its CMR affiliate. In addition to the acquisition, the proceeds of the round will be utilised by GBL to repurpose the Minnesota plant to produce n-butanol and acetone, along with funding GBL’s advanced technology process technology platform.
“We are grateful for the strong support from our board, and the continued support of our existing investors as well as from our new investors and partners, TCP and CMEC,” said Sean Sutcliffe, GBL Chief Executive, adding, “Our objective since last year has been to demonstrate our technology and secure our first U.S. commercial plant in Minnesota, and raise the necessary capital to repurpose the plant to begin production of renewable n-butanol and acetone for our customers – this financing sets us squarely on our course.”
Commenting upon the investment round, Philippe Lacamp, Head of Sustainable Development for Swire Pacific, said, “Swire Pacific is committed to advancing promising renewable product technologies by identifying high quality teams able to accelerate the use of renewable resources to meet global needs. The GBL team has achieved remarkable technical and strategic results since December 2013, and we are pleased to support Green Biologics’ vision to become a global leader in renewable chemistry utilising sustainable feedstocks, with an ultimate objective to see their technology in advanced fuels.”
Denis Lucquin, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners added, “We are delighted to have co-led this investment in Green Biologics, and we believe GBL management have developed a clear path to profitability with a capital efficient approach leveraging existing assets to produce renewable n-butanol and acetone. We are confident that Green Biologics will continue to deliver exceptional value to shareholders as well as to customers."
