Borregaard ASA: Borregaard to invest in Alginor ASA
Borregaard will co-invest with the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund) and the current shareholder Hatteland Group in a direct offering of new shares in the marine biotech company Alginor ASA. The direct offering will be executed in two tranches from the third quarter of 2021 until end of May 2022. In total, Alginor will raise up to approximately NOK 300 million in new capital from the direct offering.
In a related transaction, Borregaard will acquire 337,100 shares in Alginor from a company controlled by founder and CEO, Thorleif Thormodsen, representing 25% of his shareholding.
In addition, Alginor plans a public equity issue during the autumn of 2021 where details will be announced in due course.
After these transactions Borregaard will hold 24.99% of the shares in Alginor, with a total investment of approximately NOK 144 million.
Between May 2022 and end of April 2024, Alginor will execute an additional direct equity issue exclusively to Borregaard. This equity issue will bring Borregaard’s ownership in Alginor up to 35% and bring another NOK 126 million in equity to Alginor. If Borregaard does not fully subscribe to the direct offering, Borregaard will pay a break fee of NOK 6 million.
Alginor is a Norwegian marine biotech company based in the Haugesund region of Southwestern Norway. The company is developing a fully integrated and sustainable value chain based on harvesting and biorefining of the brown kelp Laminaria hyperborea – a renewable marine resource growing in abundance along the Norwegian coastline. Through biorefining and total utilisation of the raw material, Alginor seeks to develop, produce, market and sell a variety of up to 12 kelp-based high-value ingredients to global markets for use in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.
Through the described equity transactions, Alginor has secured the necessary funding to scale up its biorefinery concept in the Haugesund area.
- There are striking similarities between Borregaard’s business model and the biorefinery concept under development by Alginor. Both strategies are built on full utilisation of unique and sustainable raw materials for high-value products to global market niches. We realise that it will take time to scale up and fine tune production and to establish a global business, but we see this as an interesting opportunity with potential synergies between the two companies in several functions, says Per A. Sørlie, President and CEO of Borregaard.
- We look forward to having Borregaard on board as a strategic and industrial owner after completing an extensive validating process of our technology and business plan. Thanks to our dedicated 25 employees, public funding initiatives like the EU programmes and our 297 shareholders who have supported us through the years, Alginor is now entering a very exciting phase of demonstration and upscaling of the company’s core technologies. In this phase, we hope to benefit from Borregaard’s relevant competence and biorefinery experience, before taking Alginor to the stock exchange within 3 years, says Thorleif Thormodsen, CEO of Alginor.
- The European Investment Council has supported the development of innovative technology by Alginor with grants through various EU programmes (SME Instrument phase 1, SME Instrument phase 2, Eurostars initiatives). Now, when the company is moving into the next phase, the EIC Fund helps to crowd in private investors and alongside with them provides additional equity under the EU’s Green Deal to advance this exciting technology. We see that Alginor and Borregaard is a good match that can secure successful commercialisation of the technology and the future listing of the company on the Oslo Stock Exchange, says Heidi Kakko, member of the Investment Committee of the EIC Fund.
- We have been following Alginor as an early investor for more than three years. The company has already shown an impressive traction, and we are pleased to continue our investments and to support the development and growth of Alginor, says Jakob Hatteland.
The above-mentioned transactions are conditioned upon final approval by Alginor’s general assembly.
Contact:
Jørn Syvertsen, Director Investor Relations, +47 958 36 335
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.