LanzaTech, a company that has developed gas fermentation technology to transform waste carbon into materials such as sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging and other products that people use in their daily lives, will go public through a merger with AMCI Acquisition Corp. II (AMCI), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

The proposed business combination values LanzaTech at an implied $1.8 billion pro forma enterprise value. The combined company is expected to receive gross proceeds of approximately $275 million, comprising AMCI’s $150 million of cash held in trust (assuming no redemptions by AMCI’s public stockholders) and a committed common equity PIPE of approximately $125 million, at $10.00 per share, by investors including AMCI, ArcelorMittal, BASF, K1W1, Khosla Ventures, Mitsui & Co., LTD., New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC, Primetals Technologies, SHV Energy and Trafigura.

The boards of directors of AMCI and LanzaTech have approved the proposed transaction, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022, subject to, among other things, the approval by LanzaTech’s stockholders and AMCI’s stockholders and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.

Proceeds from the transaction are expected to fund acceleration in LanzaTech’s commercial operations, capital requirements associated with development projects in which LanzaTech has chosen to participate with partners, and continued technological innovation. LanzaTech will continue to be based in Chicago, Illinois, and led by Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaTech, and other key members of LanzaTech’s executive leadership.

Upon consummation of the proposed business combination, LanzaTech is expected to be the first Carbon Capture and Transformation (CCT) company to access the public capital markets. LanzaTech’s scalable technology is designed to enable participants in many industries to reduce their carbon footprint and overall environmental impact profitably and help end users replace materials made from virgin fossil resources with recycled carbon.

LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology can provide a profitable pathway for solving the significant carbon problem of heavy industry. Since its inception in 2005, LanzaTech has worked diligently to validate its technology in the real-world industrial marketplace. In 2020, LanzaTech formed and spun out a new company, LanzaJet, to scale up production of sustainable aviation fuel. Both companies have built a roster of customers, partners and investors from a wide variety of industries that range from steel producers including ArcelorMittal and traditional energy companies such as Suncor Energy and Shell to aviation companies including All Nippon Airways, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, illustrating a high degree of confidence and adoption across numerous industries.

LanzaTech’s sustainable materials are also used in the manufacture of many everyday goods from well-known consumer brands such as Unilever and Lululemon. LanzaTech’s extensive network of customers and partners have committed approximately $800 million in the development of new facilities using LanzaTech’s technology, including two commercially operating plants and seven plants under construction. These new facilities are expected to bring on significant new production capacity in the future and serve as a major validation to potential future customers as the roster of these notable partners continues to grow.