Jan 24 2014
Algae.Tec Limited said the signing of agreements with Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings (RIIHL) was the backing the Company needed to fund and launch its Global Biofuels Division.
Algae.Tec's enclosed algae growth technology system. (Photo: Business Wire)
RIIHL is part of the Reliance Group, India’s largest private sector enterprise.
The agreements encompass a subscription agreement, and technical and equipment supply agreements. These agreements also discuss conditions for future commercial algae plants, following the successful completion of the pilot plant.
The subscription agreement details the issue of $1.5m worth of shares and $5m of options to RIIHL with both the shares and option exercise price being set at the 90 day volume weighted average share price, which equates to 16.3 cents per share. The shares will be issued immediately and RIIHL will make additional investments by exercise of $1.2m of options over the next two years.
The technical and equipment supply agreements detail the technical goals that Algae.Tec will have to meet and the costs that RIIHL will pay for the pilot plant and technical supervision.
“This is a very exciting step forward by Algae.Tec” stated Peter Hatfull, Algae.Tec’s Managing Director. “The new biofuels facility to be built in India, will be fully funded by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL), leaving the equity injection to be used solely for working capital purposes”
“This level of financial backing and ongoing support is just what Algae.Tec needed.”
“It’s a fact of business life that emerging companies need funding injections and the technical grunt of this type to transition into the commercial phase.”
“It’s good news for Algae.Tec and the algae biofuels sector.”
The Algae.Tec Biofuels Division is operated out of the Atlanta facility through the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Algae Energy Inc.
The vision is to work with this significant strategic partner Reliance for many years to come, deploying Algae.Tec growth platform technology to produce algae biofuels in India and expanding through Asia to help meet increasing demand for fuels.
Algae.Tec recently announced expansion into the nutraceuticals market which taps the fast growing demand for products like Spirulina and Chlorella. This Division is based in Nowra south of Sydney. “It is exciting to have two distinct divisions with strong strategic partners with both divisions participating in massive global markets” said Mr Hatfull.