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Piovan Summiteer Oktober 2024
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Raise

Avantium announces the successful completion of its €70 million capital raise

4:56 min Facts & Figures
Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Avantium secures funding for the completion, commissioning and start-up of the FDCA Flagship Plant and the acceleration of its commercial deployment
  • The gross proceeds from the rights offering is €50.5 million, resulting in the issue of 27,018,772 new ordinary shares
    • 24,467,905 new ordinary shares were subscribed through exercise of rights, representing a 90.6% take-up in the rights offering
    • The rump offering was fully subscribed
  • Additional upsize offering of €19.5 million, resulting in the issue of 9,376,981 new ordinary shares
    • The cornerstone investors and pre-committed shareholders were allocated €9.1 million at the issue price
    • New investors were allocated €10.4 million at a price of €2.30, representing a 3.2% discount to the closing price on 8 February 2024

Avantium N.V. announces it has raised a total of €70 million through the successful completion of its capital increase by means of a fully underwritten rights offering, for an amount of €50.5 million, and the completion of a €19.5 million institutional upsize offering.

Tom van Aken, Chief Executive Officer of Avantium, comments: “We are very pleased with this successful €70 million capital raise, exceeding the €50 million equity capital that Avantium was initially targeting. This transaction allows us to remain well capitalised until our FDCA Flagship Plant is commercially operational. It also enables us to strengthen our balance sheet and to accelerate our technology licensing strategy. The increased issue size of €70 million, the high exercise percentage of the rights, the commitment of our larger existing shareholders and the entry of new strategic investors reflect an increasing and broadening interest in Avantium. I would like to thank our shareholders for putting their trust in us through their contributions to this capital increase. With their support, we help realising a renewable and circular plastics economy, and create long-term, sustainable value for all our stakeholders.”

Results of the Rights Offering

  • The final gross proceeds of the Rights Offering amount to €50.5 million, corresponding to the issuance of 27,018,772 new ordinary shares at an issue price per share of €1.87.
  • 24,467,905 new ordinary shares were subscribed through exercise of rights, representing a 90.6% take-up. 
  • The rump offering of 2,550,867 new ordinary shares was fully subscribed.

Results of the Upsize Offering

In light of the high take-up rate by existing shareholders of Avantium, the rump was not sufficient to cover the guaranteed allocation to cornerstone investors. As a result, Avantium has placed additional offer shares to cornerstone investors as well as to the pre-committed shareholders for an amount of €9.1 million at the issue price

Furthermore, given the interest in the transaction of both existing shareholders as well as new investors, Avantium has decided to use its full authorisation of €70 million. A private placement offering of €10.4 million was completed after close of market on 8 February 2024 in order to accommodate the excess demand from institutional investors. These offer shares have been placed at a price of €2.30 per offer share. The price represents a discount of 3.2% to the closing price on 8 February 2024 and a premium of 23.0% to the issue price under the Rights Offering.

In total €19.5 million was raised through the upsize offering, resulting in the issue of 9,376,981 new ordinary shares (the “Upsize Offering” and together with the Rights Offering, “the Offering”).

Share capital after the Offering

Following the closing of the Offering, Avantium’s issued share capital will be comprised of 79,625,789 ordinary shares.

Cornerstone investors SENFI Ventures Co., Ltd, an affiliate of SCG Chemicals Public Company Limited, and Dutch entrepreneur Pieter Kooi (indirectly through his holding company, Pieter Kooi Holding B.V.) will respectively be allocated a total of 2,406,417 and 4,010,695 new ordinary shares and will hold 3.0% and 5.0% of the issued share capital after completion of the Offering.

The pre-committed shareholders APG1 , investors represented by Wierda en Partners Vermogensbeheer B.V. and Navitas B.V. will respectively be allocated a total of 3,318,428, 2,591,421 and 1,072,024 new ordinary shares and will hold 9.1%, 7.7% and 3.2% of the issued share capital after completion of the Offering.

Settlement and delivery of the new ordinary shares and commencement of trading on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels are expected to take place on 12 February 2024.

Use of proceeds

The Company anticipates to use the net proceeds of the Rights Offering as follows and in this order of priority:

  • 80% of the net proceeds to provide the necessary liquidity to fund the completion, commissioning and start-up (including working capital needs) of the FDCA Flagship Plant as well as investing in strengthening and accelerating the commercial, technology, engineering and application development activities within the Renewable Polymers business unit to facilitate and potentially accelerate the sale of technology licenses to third parties in respect of the production, manufacturing and/or application of the YXY® Technology;
  • 15% of the net proceeds to fund general expenses related to the day-to-day management of the Company and providing support services; and
  • 5% of the net proceeds to fund the development and further scale up of the Volta Technology from pre-pilot plant to pilot plant scale, to reach a decision on the construction of a Volta pilot plant, for which the Group explores partnerships and financing to fund the next phase of development.

The net proceeds of the Rights Offering are expected to cover the Company’s funding requirements for Avantium Renewable Polymers and secures funding for the completion, commissioning and startup of the FDCA Flagship Plant and the acceleration of its commercial deployment. The Company anticipates to use the additional net proceeds of the Upsize Offering to further strengthen the financial profile of the Company to be able to cover additional general corporate costs, including working capital, and to demonstrate its long-term financial viability to Avantium’s stakeholders, such as its customers and prospective licensees.

Lock-up undertakings

The Company has agreed with the underwriters to a lock-up period expiring 180 calendar days following the date of settlement of the Offering, subject to certain customary exceptions. The Joint Global Coordinators (on behalf of the underwriters) may waive the lock-up restrictions under the Underwriting Agreement.

SENFI Ventures Co., Ltd and Pieter Kooi have agreed to a lock-up period expiring 180 calendar days following the date of settlement of the Offering, subject to certain customary exceptions.

Advisors

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (in collaboration with ODDO BHF SCA) and Bryan, Garnier & Co acted as global coordinators (the "Joint Global Coordinators") for the Offering.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acted as the Subscription, Listing and Paying Agent for the Offering.

PrimaryBid SA was engaged by Avantium to run the public offering in France, and to cooperate with ABN AMRO in the Netherlands and Belgium on the retail offerings in these countries.

Bryan, Garnier & Co acted as financial advisor to the Company.

Underwriting and Placement

In connection with the Rights Offering, the Company has entered into an underwriting agreement dated 26 January 2024 (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with a syndicate of underwriters including ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Bryan, Garnier & Co and Invest-NL. In connection with the private placement offering under the Upsize Offering, the Company entered into a placement agreement dated 8 February 2024 with the ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and Bryan, Garnier & Co.

Availability of the Prospectus

The Rights Offering has been made only by means of a prospectus (the “Prospectus”), approved by, and filed with, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Stichting Autoriteit Financiële Markten) (the “AFM”) on 26 January 2024 as competent authority under the Prospectus Regulation. The Prospectus has been notified to the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority and to the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers for passporting in accordance with article 25 of the Prospectus Regulation. The Prospectus is available electronically, free of charge, via the website of the Company https://www.avantium.com/rightsoffering/ and the AFM website https://www.afm.nl/nlnl/sector/registers/meldingenregisters/goedgekeurde-prospectussen, subject to securities law restrictions in certain jurisdictions. 

The selected historical financial information in the Prospectus contains certain restatements of the HY 2023 financial statements as published on the Company website.

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1 APG means Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and Stichting Depositary APG Developed Markets Equity Pool for the benefit of APG Developed Markets Equity Pool, jointly.

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www.avantium.com

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