Myriant receives USDA loan guarantee to close bond placement for construction of bio-succinic acid plant

18 June 2012

Myriant Corporation closed a $25 million private bond placement for the construction of its flagship commercial bio-succinic acid plant located in Lake Providence, Louisiana. The placement utilized the Business and Industry (“B&I”) Rural Development Loan Guarantee program that is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Myriant’s commercial plant will produce 30 million pounds of bio-succinic acid annually and construction is on-schedule for the planned commercial start-up in the first quarter of 2013. The project is the first bio-succinic acid plant in the United States.

Myriant has signed multi-year, customer contracts for the plant’s expected annual production capacity and is currently planning its 140-million-pound expansion in the United States.

Myriant is the first bio-based chemicals company to receive funding from USDA’s B&I Rural Development Loan Guarantee program. The B&I program is designed to improve the economic and environmental climate in rural communities by supporting the development of high quality local industry.

The $25 million USDA B&I Loan Guarantee complements a $50 million cooperative agreement that Myriant received from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and a $10 million grant from the Lake Providence Port Commission and the Louisiana Department of Transportation.

Of the $25 million in bonds sold, $15 million are guaranteed by the USDA under the B&I program. Sales of the unsecured portion of the bonds indicate investor confidence in the future financial performance of Myriant’s Lake Providence bio-refinery. Stern Brothers acted as the bond placement agent. HEARTLAND Bank, Little Rock, Arkansas, is the Lender of Record through the B&I Loan Program and will service the bonds.

Succinic acid is traditionally produced from petroleum and is used in a wide variety of applications, including the production of polymers, fibers, surfactants, detergents and flavors. The global market for succinic acid is currently estimated at approximately $7.5 billion annually.

Myriant’s high purity bio-succinic acid is a drop-in replacement for petroleum-based succinic acid. Customer analysis of Myriant’s bio-succinic acid validates that it is chemically identical to petroleum-based succinic acid, while also being more environmentally friendly and cost-competitive without government subsidies.