03. Mar 2021
Circa successfully completes €56 million private placement
Biochemicals company Circa Group AS has successfully completed a private placement of 575 Norwegian Kroner (NOK) – approximately €56 million – in a transaction led by Pareto Securities and Sparebank 1 Markets in Oslo, at a post-money market valuation of approximately NOK 2 billion, or approximately €194 million.
The private placement attracted strong interest from high-quality and global institutional investors and was more than 15 times oversubscribed, excluding pre-allocated shares. Cornerstone investors include BNP Paribas Energy Transition Fund, Delphi Fondene, DNB Asset Management, Handelsbanken Fonder, The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund, Robeco Asset Management and Circa’s industrial partner Norske Skog ASA.
Circa is a leader in the production of sustainable biochemicals. Established in 2006, Circa Group has developed proprietary technology to convert waste, non-food biomass into advanced bio-based chemicals. Based on this Furacell process, as the technology is known, the company produces the platform biomolecule Levoglucosenone (LGO) - a chemical building block which can be used to produce, among others, the bio-based solvent Cyrene in one step, as well as a range of other chemicals. Circa has already developed five successful pilots – including a joint venture with Norske Skog.
The company is the leader of the ReSolute consortium, an EU project that has received a €12 million flagship grant under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
The proceeds from the present private placement will be used to build a 1,000 tonne ReSolute flagship plant in France and to further develop the company’s portfolio of chemical derivatives.
Tony Duncan, CEO and co-founder of Circa Group, said he was ‘very appreciative of the incredible support shown towards Circa in our IPO’.
“This has been a 15-year journey for a dedicated team and our partners. The Circa IPO initiates phase 3 of our development - the manufacture and commercialisation of the levoglucosenone biomolecule platform for industry - and is a positive signpost for the biomaterials industry as a whole. It is clear that consumers want better, safer, more sustainable products and brand owners need to respond before the regulators do,” he said.
The company started trading under the ticker code CIRCA on Euronext Growth Oslo yesterday, 2 March 2021.
https://circa-group.com