Oslo, 2 March 2021 – The Australian biotechnology Circa has today been admitted to trading on Euronext Growth (ticker code: CIRCA).
Circa uses renewable biomass waste to produce biochemicals, and has spent 15 years and five pilots to develop and patent a scalable production process.
Recently, the company raised NOK 500 million through issuing new shares. In addition, there was an over-allotment (greenshoe option) bringing total proceeds raised in the offering to NOK 575 million. The share offering attracted strong support and interest from Norwegian and international investors and was more than 15 times oversubscribed, reported Circa.
“We are both humbled, proud and excited by the reception we have received from investors in both Norway and abroad. Although Australia is far away geographically, we feel very close to the Norwegian financial and industrial community through our strong partnership with Norske Skog. We look forward to further develop our relationship with those communities in the years to come,” says Tony Duncan, CEO and co-founder of Circa Group.
The shares in the new issue were sold at NOK 16.75 corresponding to a market capitalisation of NOK 2.0 billion. Norske Skog ASA invested NOK 50 million in the private placement and holds 26.5 percent of the outstanding shares after the placement.
“Since we first started working with Tony and the Circa team and built the FC 5 pilot plant at the Boyer mill, we have been certain that the Circa technology will be a key enabler for the transition to a more sustainable future within the chemicals industry. We are proud to welcome new shareholders to Circa Group and look forward to working with the development of the Circa business for the benefit of all shareholders of this unique company,” says Lars Sperre, Chairman of Circa Group.
About Circa
Circa is a biotechnology company that has spent 15 years and five pilots to develop and patent the first scalable LGO production process. LGO is a platform biomolecule used in production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, batteries, graphene, polymers and more. Cyrene is Circa’s first commercial scale biochemical produced from LGO, replacing toxic and fossil-based solvents like NMP and DMF. Circa has received the EU Flagship Grant to support construction of a 1,000 tonnes plant in France.