Bryan, Garnier & Co structures the first Carbon Credit-Indexed Bond for Bionersis
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Paris, July 30th 2010 – Bryan, Garnier & Co, the independent pan-European investment bank focused on growth companies, announces that it has successfully arranged a “premier” €6m issuance of CO2 credits-indexed bonds with warrants for Bionersis, the leading company in the development, construction and exploitation of landfill gas sites for the generation of CO2 credits and electricity, with current operations in Asia and Latin America.
This transaction resulted in the issuance of 20,000 bonds with a nominal value of €300 and 200,000 warrants with a strike price of €8.50 per share of Bionersis. Bonds are due in July 2015. Warrants will be exercisable at any time until that date. The bonds will pay between 7% and 15% per annum, depending on CO2 credits (CER) average prices.
The bonds and warrants were placed with institutional investors, including Louis Dreyfus group, and the public.
Proceeds will allow the company to broaden its portfolio of landfill sites in new geographies and to initiate the process towards associated electrical generation on selected sites. Financing for the existing CO2 credit generation installations had already been secured prior to the bonds issuance, through capital increases and advances from industrial partners EdF and EON, with approximately €30m invested to date.
Nicolas Heuzé, Deputy CEO of Bionersis, said: «With this innovative bond issuance, we are getting a financing that is perfectly suited to our cash-flow and balance sheet structure, while the bank debt market is not yet ready to finance the CO2 projects. It will allow us to continue developing vigorously and seize the numerous growth opportunities that come to us in this still challenging environnement.»
Olivier Beaudouin, Director Technology & Renewables at Bryan, Garnier & Co commented: «This first financing, which took place in a difficult market environment, just before the summer break, drew much interest from institutional investors. The offering indeed presents investors with one of the most attractive risk-reward profiles in the renewable sector. This encourages us to envisage a complementary placement after the summer, to allow investors that did not have time to appraise this opportunity in the public placing timetable, to join.»
Henri-Pierre Jeancard, Director Structured Products at Bryan, Garnier & Co added: «We aimed at providing Bionersis with expansion capital, at a very affordable cost and with very little dilution. This was achieved thanks to a highly targeted placing, as well as the indexed feature of the bond coupon, which constituted a “premier” with the CER commodity. Bionersis is expected to derive substantial profits from a pick up in CER prices, which investors will be able to share in with this structure. Through the warrants, they will also get the benefits derived from the development of the company, including electrical generation.»
Thibaut de Smedt, Partner at Bryan, Garnier & Co concluded: «This transaction fully illustrates once again Bryan, Garnier & Co’s capacity to help finance European growth companies through a large toolbox of advisory services and market products. We are very happy about its successful conclusion. »
For more information, please contact:
Thibaut de Smedt / Partner / +33 1 56 68 75 75 | tdesmedt@bryangarnier.fr
Olivier Beaudouin / Director – Technology and Renewables / +33 1 56 68 75 35 | obeaudouin@bryangarnier.fr
Henri-Pierre Jeancard / Director – Structured Products / +33 1 56 68 75 97 | hpjeancard@bryangarnier.fr
Julien Ressmann / Senior Associate / +33 1 56 68 75 47 | jressmann@bryangarnier.fr
About Bionersis
Bionersis is a global player in the renewable energies sector and specialises in recovering biogas from landfill sites. Based on the performance of its plants which recover and destroy methane from landfill sites, Bionersis has a strong ability to generate CERs. The innovative model developed by Bionersis is particularly suited to Latin American and Asian countries and helps combat global warming.
BIONERSIS has been listed on the Alternext stock market since 8 March 2010 (FR0010294462 – ALBRS).