18 August 2011
Overview
Genomatican and Novamont
have signed a letter of intent to
establish a joint venture expected to lead to
the first industrial plants in Europe producing
Butanediol (BDO) from renewable feedstocks
Novamont, a leading producer of biodegrable bioplastics, wil
consume the BDO for captive use to meet the
increasing demand for its products
Production Capacity 40 millions pounds per year
Location Italy
Production schedule end of 2012
Key terms of the letter of intent include
* Novamont provide the capital needed for construction
of the first plant
* Novamont will commit to purchase the production output from
the first plant
* Genomatica will have an option on a portion of the BDO production
* Genomatica and Novamont will share in the earnings of the plants
according to specific terms between the companies
* Novamont will take care of an existing industrial site using its skills
in the production of renewable monomers to
implement Genomatica's BDO process
and will run plant operations
* While Genomatica will provide the basic engineering packages
for implementation of its BDO production processes,
along with techology trasfer and engineering support
Genomatica processes are industrially attractive now
Genomatica's process enables a new approach to chemical production
-smaller scale, capital-efficient manufacturing form renewable feedstocks
that fullfill a broad range of customer needs across the value chain
Novamont
* Genomatica's BDO process is ready for scale-up and also
looks sustainable from the economic point of view.
* The scale-up of Genomatica's BDO process will support the
growth of Novamont's bioplastics in line with Novamont's
strategy of integrated biorefineries reviving
de-industrialized sites
Genomatica
* Novamont is a leader in a rapidly growing segment of the
BDO market and a first-class partner to add to
commercialization efforts
