Carbios postpones construction of its Longlaville PET biorecycling plant
Carbios, a pioneer in the development and industrialisation of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, is postponing the construction of its PET biorecycling plant in Longlaville for 6 to 9 months due to delayed funding pending completion of additional financing under satisfactory conditions.
Carbios’ ambition is to finalise this financing, notably non-dilutive, as quickly as possible, so as to serve market needs from 2027. Carbios expects to sign several binding commercial contracts in the first half of 2025.
Without calling the plant construction project into question, the decision to postpone the project enables Carbios to slow down the pace of cash burn on the project, and to pursue commercial discussions without liquidity pressure. Given the 6 to 9-month planned shift in the construction of the Longlaville plant and tighter control over spending, Carbios, with cash reserves of €92.8 million as of November 30, 2024, supplemented by €19.6 million in term deposits classified as financial assets, is well-positioned to meet its needs beyond the next twelve months.
“To ensure the prudent execution of our strategy and safeguard our cash flow in a complex environment, we are postponing construction of the plant in line with the expected timetable for public grants and the negotiation of the necessary additional non-dilutive financing. I am delighted that Vincent Kamel, a Director since 2021 with exceptional international industrial experience in specialty chemicals, has agreed to work alongside me,” said Philippe Pouletty, founder, Chairman of the Board of Directors and new interim CEO of Carbrios.
Progress on financing the Longlaville plant
Negotiations with Indorama Ventures Limited are not yet finalised. The company has also entered discussions with other private and public financial institutions likely to provide financing for the project under favorable conditions.
These discussions are currently under review. Carbios has therefore obtained confirmation from the French State, including Bpifrance, of its potential support in activating the appraisal of its request for debt coverage (request for 86 million euros) under the “Strategic Projects Guarantee” (GPS) scheme, for which the company has obtained eligibility. Bpifrance’s GPS scheme is designed to support projects of strategic interest for the French economy, notably by offering partial debt coverage of up to 80% of loans or investments.
In addition, as a reminder, Carbios has obtained non-dilutive funding of 30 million euros from France 2030 and a commitment of 12.5 million euros from the Grand Est Region. The pre-notification phase of France’s state aid scheme to the European Commission has been completed. Notification by the French State should take place in the coming days, with a view to authorization of the “Circular Economy” state aid scheme in the first quarter of 2025.
Governance update
Emmanuel Ladent’s term of office as Chief Executive Officer ended on 18 December 2024. Philippe Pouletty, founder of CARBIOS and Chairman of the Board of Directors, has been appointed CEO, which he has accepted on a transitional basis, with effect from 18 December 2024. The Board of Directors is in the process of recruiting a new CEO to pursue the Company’s development.
