Renewable chemicals firm files for $125 million IPO

A firm developing renewable substitutes for petroleum-based chemicals plans to raise $125 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq.

Quincy, Massachusetts-based Myriant Corporation filed its prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. The firm uses an anaerobic fermentation process involving microorganisms to develop replacement chemicals based on a variety of biomass feedstocks, including corn, sugarcane and waste biomass.

Myriant’s technology has been deployed on a commercial scale by food preservative firm Purac in Spain, to make a form of lactic acid, under a licensing agreement.

But the money raised through the IPO will be used to complete construction and expansion of the first of its own factories, a biosuccinic acid plant in Louisiana. Myriant claims that its product will be competitive at oil prices of $45 a barrel. Succinic acid is used in production of pharmaceuticals.

In January, the firm raised $60 million in private equity from Thai petrochemicals producer PTT Chemical group. Myriant and PTT are developing a joint venture to deploy the firm’s technology in South-east Asia.

The firm launched in 2006 and has never made a profit. In 2010, it made a loss of $16.2 million, on revenues of $14.2 million – although $10.4 million of this was in government subsidies.

In the first quarter of 2011, the firm reports a loss of $18.5 million, compared to a loss of $4.6 million in the same period last year.

The listing is being underwritten by USB, J.P. Morgan, Citi and Piper Jaffray.

Jess McCabe