Green Biologics secures $76 million in debt and equity financing

Proceeds position company to deliver 1st commercial plant in U.S.

Gahanna, Ohio and Abingdon, Oxfordshire U.K. (January 21, 2015) – Green Biologics (GBL) announced today 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.”

About Green Biologics

Green Biologics Ltd (GBL) is a renewable chemicals company based in Abingdon, England with a wholly owned U.S. operating company, Green Biologics Inc., based in Gahanna, Ohio. GBL’s Clostridium fermentation platform converts a wide range of sustainable feedstocks into high performance green chemicals such as n- butanol, acetone, and through chemical synthesis, derivatives of butanol and acetone used by a growing global consumer and industrial products customer base. The platform combines advanced high productivity fermentation with superior-performing proprietary Clostridium microbial biocatalysts and synthetic chemistry to produce a pipeline of high value green chemicals with optimal performance in downstream formulations.

Green Biologics was named to the Global Cleantech 100 list of the top Cleantech companies in the world for 2014. The company was also #6 on the Hottest Small Companies in the Bioeconomy and #28 on the Hottest 30 list for Bio-based Chemicals and Materials for 2014.

Green Biologics is transforming the global chemicals market, providing its customers with products and technology that are more sustainable and higher value than petroleum-based alternatives. For more information, visit www.greenbiologics.com.

About Swire Pacific

The Swire group was founded in Liverpool in 1816. The group’s interests span five continents, with principal operations in the Asia Pacific region, centring on Greater China, with additional major interests in UK, USA, East Africa, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Swire Pacific is one of Hong Kong’s blue chip publicly quoted companies and was formed in 1974 from an existing publicly listed Swire entity, as the holding company for the Swire group’s principal businesses in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and elsewhere. Swire Pacific’s interests are grouped under five divisions: Property, Aviation, Beverages, Marine Services and Trading & Industrial. The company is the major shareholder in three other Hong Kong public companies: Swire Properties, Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO). Cathay Pacific and HAECO act as holding companies for Swire Pacific’s other Aviation Division businesses. Its Industrial interests range from paint manufacturing to sugar packaging and distribution for historic brand Taikoo Sugar, established by Swire in 1881.

About Sofinnova Partners

Sofinnova Partners is an independent venture capital firm based in Paris, France. For more than 40 years, the firm has backed nearly 500 companies at different stages of their development – pure creations, spin-offs, as well as turnaround situations – and worked alongside Europe’s key entrepreneurs in the Life Sciences industry. With €1.3 billion of funds under management, Sofinnova Partners has created market leaders with its experienced team and hands-on approach in building portfolio companies through to exit.

About Tennenbaum Capital Partners

Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC (“TCP”) is a Los Angeles-based alternative investment management firm focused on performing and special situation credit for middle-market companies. TCP manages a publicly- traded business development company, TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: TCPC), as well as other funds and accounts. Since its founding, TCP has invested more than $13.9 billion in over 350 companies.

Contacts

For Green Biologics
Timothy Staub
Global VP Business Development
Tel.: +1 804 368-6136
E-Mail: tim.staub@greenbiologics.com

For Swire Pacific Ltd
Cindy Cheung
Senior Manager Group Public Affairs
Tel.: +852 2840 8091
E-Mail: cindycheung@jsshk.com

For Sofinnova Partners
STRATEGIES & IMAGE
Anne REIN
Tel.: +33 6 03 35 92 05
E-Mail: anne.rein@strategiesimage.com

For Tennenbaum Capital Partners
Jessica Eckberg
Tel.: +1 310 566 1003
E-Mail: investorrelations@tennenbaumcapital.com

Source

Green Biologics, press release, 2015-01-21.

Supplier

Abalonyx AS (NO)
Capricorn Venture Partners
GAP Waste Management (UK)
GasPlas AS
Geonardo Ltd. (HU)
Green Biologics
Morningside Technology Partners
Oxford Capital Partners
Sofinnova Partners
Swire Pacific
Tennenbaum Capital Partners (TCP)
Uvasol Ltd

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