PARIS: Carbios  today announced the launch of a capital increase without shareholders’ preferential subscription rights by way of a public offering and with a priority subscription period, on an irreducible basis only, to its existing shareholders and a global offering, for an initial amount of €105 million.

The Offering may be increased up to a maximum of €120.75 million in the event of the full exercise of the increase option.

Key terms of the transaction

• Capital increase by way of a public offering and with a priority subscription period on an irreducible basis to shareholders of four trading days
• Two strategic shareholders of Carbios, L’Oréal (though its venture arm BOLD) and Michelin Ventures, have irrevocably undertaken to subscribe to the capital increase as of their current stake totalling 10.36% of Carbios’ share capital
• Initial amount of €105 million which may be increased up to €120.75 million in the event of a full exercise of the increase option
• Maximum subscription price: €41 per new share
• Priority subscription period and public offering: from May 3, 2021 to May 6, 2021 included
• Private placement: from May 3, 2021 to May 10, 2021
• Eligible for PEA & PEA-PME

Rationale of the transaction

• The Company is planning to use the funds to be raised mainly to finance:
• the construction of a reference unit using its enzymatic technology for recycling 100% of PET, the production capacity of which is estimated at 40,000 tons per year and for which the investment is estimated at around €100 million (approx. 65% ​​of the net proceeds of the issue); in this regard, it is specified that the part of the investment in the reference unit not financed through the net proceeds of the issue will be financed, when the time comes, through other sources of financing;
• the operational expenses of the Company (approx. 5% ​​of the net proceeds of the issue);
• operational expenses related to the demonstration plant under construction on the Cataroux industrial site of which €10 to 15 million still have to be financed by the Company (approx. 5% ​​of the net proceeds of the issue); in this regard, it is specified that the part of the investment in the demonstration plant not financed through the net proceeds of the issue will be financed, when the time comes, through other sources of financing;
• expenses related to its R&D activities specific to PET and PLA, and the deployment of its research activities for other polymers and/or other applications of its technologies (approx. 10% ​​of the net proceeds of the issue); and
• the rationalization of its portfolio in order to develop its biodegradation technologies beyond PLA (approx. 15% ​​of the net proceeds of the issue).

Based on cash flow items to date and forecasted Company’s expenses, the net proceeds from the issue should enable the Company to achieve its strategic objectives and cover its working capital requirements until the end of 2023.

BNP Paribas, Bryan, Garnier & Co Limited, Bryan Garnier Securities, J.P. Morgan, Natixis and ODDO BHF SCA are acting as global coordinators and joint bookrunners in connection with the Offering (together, the “Managers”).

“Plastic pollution is one of the major challenges of our time! Plastic is present in our daily lives in many forms and in many areas, but only a small amount of this plastic is currently recycled. Our research and development teams have developed a technology that is unique in the world based on the use of enzymes to deconstruct any type of PET waste (bottles, packaging, polyester fibers…) into its basic constituents (monomers) which can then be reused to produce new PET products endlessly recyclable and with the same quality as the original ones,” comments Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios.

“This is a major turning point in the plastics industry and Carbios is at the heart of this revolution. By September, we will have built an operational industrial demonstrator that will allow us to generate enough technical data to project the operation of future industrial units. And we recently announced that we are going to build our own benchmark unit that will use our 100% PET recycling technology, whose construction is expected to start at the end of 2022, with first revenues from this unit expected in 2025. To finance these new ambitions, we are today launching a capital increase. Open to all, shareholders and non-shareholders, it allows you to acquire shares in our company and to participate with us to establish a lasting circular plastic economy that will benefit future generations and our planet,” comments Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios.

www.carbios.com