The construction of the PDO/BA plant of METEX NØØVISTA in France moves forward

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

METabolic EXplorer (METEX) has just announced the closing of the agreement to finance the construction and operation of its PDO/BA (1,3-propanediol / butyric acid) production plant. See the posts below for more details about the plant.
Press release: “Green light for the construction of the METEX NØØVISTA production unit at Carling Saint-Avold”, 19/12/2018.
Related posts:
- “METEX plans to build a PDO/BA production facility”, 22/5/2017.
- “METEX and financial partner to create JV for the construction and operation of its PDO/BA plant”, 21/2/2018.

Last February, METEX reported that had signed a letter of intent with a French financial partner to create a joint venture for the construction and operation of the plant. The name was not disclosed at that time, but in July, we knew that financial partner was Bpifrance-managed Société de Projets Industriels (SPI, investment fund underwritten by the Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir and the European Investment Bank). The name of the joint venture is METEX NØØVISTA.

Figure 1. Logo of METEX NØØVISTA

After obtaining the order from the environmental authorisation for the plant’s operation on 10 December 2018 and signing various agreements with the platform’s stakeholders, all conditions precedent were lifted, allowing the financing agreements to enter into force. METEX and SPI will invest, respectively, 17.15 M€ and 19.75 M€ in cash in three instalments over a two-year period to cover the 37 M€ required for the project’s first phase. The financing needed to adapt the site for the first industrial biochemical unit (building, utilities, studies) will be provided by the project stakeholders (the Total group, the French state, the Greater East region and the Communauté d’Agglomération de Saint-Avold Synergie). In addition to its cash investment, METEX is granting an exclusive worldwide license as well as sub-licensing rights for the PDO/BA technology to METEX NØØVISTA (7 M€).

The start-up is planned by the second half of 2020. The project could move into the second stage two years after the beginning of the first stage. The launch of this second stage will require additional financing.

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