Tag: TerraVia

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TerraVia Files for Bankruptcy – Announces Sale of Substantially All of Its Assets Subject to Competitive Bidding Process

FILE - This July 15, 2013, file photo, shows a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Hopes that a deal between Greece and its creditors could be cobbled together in time to avoid a messy Greek exit from the euro sent stock markets across Europe sharply higher on Wednesday, July 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) ORG XMIT: NYSB301
TerraVia Holdings Files for Bankruptcy; Announces Sale of Substantially All of Its Assets Subject to Competitive Bidding Process

3:59 am ET August 2, 2017 (Benzinga) 
TerraVia Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: TVIA) announced today that it has entered into a “stalking horse” stock and asset purchase agreement with Corbion N.V., a Netherlands-based global leader in food ingredients and biobased technologies, to acquire substantially all of TerraVia’s assets in a sale process under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
The purchase agreement provides TerraVia with a binding bid of $20 million in cash along with the assumption of certain liabilities, which is subject to higher or otherwise better offers. As part of the transaction, Corbion will be assuming the ongoing financial obligations of the business and its joint venture ownership, therefore the total financial commitment is expected to be in excess of the cash purchase price. Through this proposed transaction, TerraVia employees, who bring with them a wide range of highly valued skills and expertise, together with its customers, have an opportunity to benefit from joining a global leader in its markets.
To facilitate its competitive transaction process, TerraVia and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Bankruptcy Court”) under the Case number 17-11655. Additional information can be found at http://www.kccllc.net/TerraVia.
In addition, TerraVia also announced that it has received a commitment for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from holders of approximately 63% of the outstanding principal amount of its senior unsecured convertible notes. The DIP financing will be used to finance the working capital needs of TerraVia’s business through the completion of the sale transaction and to support payments to vendors for post-petition purchases in the ordinary course.
The DIP financing announced today provides the necessary financing to support continued operations and TerraVia’s ability to service customer demand, while the Section 363 bankruptcy restructuring process provides the tools to execute an expedited and orderly strategic transaction. This process will create a level playing field for all interested bidders to compete to provide the highest or otherwise best offer for certain or all of TerraVia’s assets.
Pursuant to section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, TerraVia intends to implement bidding procedures to allow other qualified bidders the opportunity to submit bids through a court-supervised process to purchase certain or all of the assets being sold.
TerraVia anticipates that a sale will be completed within 60 to 90 days.
Rothschild Inc. is acting as TerraVia’s financial advisor and investment banker to lead the sales process under the bid procedures and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as restructuring and corporate counsel to TerraVia.

© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

For more information > http://www.kccllc.net/TerraVia

 

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INVESTING MADISON AVENUE

TerraVia in the Wilderness Years : Biofuels Digest

TerraVia in the Wilderness Years

April 19, 2017 | 

Over at our sister publication Nuu, we reported this week that TerraVia got a “generally recognized as safe” OK from the FDA for its long-awaited algae butter.

It’s a palm-free, non-hydrogenated, vegan solution for bakery, spreads and confectionery applications. Algae Butter will be produced by the TerraVia and Bunge joint venture, SB Oils, and marketed in the U.S. by Bunge North America.

Quick melting with a clean taste, it works just a little like renewable jet fuel when it comes to replacing the incumbent — Algae Butter can reduce saturated fat by up to 50 percent in most applications.

“The food industry has been searching for a replacement for palm and hydrogenated vegetable oils that maintains quality, taste and functionality and also meets their rigorous criteria for sustainable sourcing,” said Mark Brooks, Senior Vice President, TerraVia. “We believe Algae butter is a game changer for the structuring fats industry in terms of sustainability and nutrition.”

While butter doesn’t exactly rival gasoline as a market — it’s pretty substantial, when you get down to it. The global market is something like $4.4 billion – a demand of around 10 million tons and a price point around $4400 per ton. Giving TerraVia a shot at $2.2B of that — and at a price point that dwarfs some of the company’s targets from its Solazyme days — the world of $360 per ton crude petroleum, for example.

“We make oils” said the prospectus for the old Solazyme when it completed its celebrated IPO five years ago, pledging to transform the market for oils through the power of algae to make them. The company has subsequently ratcheted its focus down to speciality ingredients and nutrition — but that’s been typical of almost every algae-based venture, most of which long abandoned the fuels and big chemicals markets in a search for price points that were more reachable in the near-term.

TerraVia has not disclosed in recent years its production cost for algae oils — but $4400 per ton is, surely, a tempting and high-margin target.

TerraVia’s rough month

It’s been rough going for TerraVia in recent weeks.

The company announced a painful round of layoffs — 25 percent of the company’s workforce, which had already been substantially reduced in the past two years. And the company suspended operations at its Peoria, Illinois demonstration-scale facility, and said it was seeking “strategic opportunities to partner its AlgaVia® line of products” — which of course could range from a joint venture to an outright sale of the brands (while retaining perhaps a manufacturing contract)…

Finish reading: TerraVia in the Wilderness Years : Biofuels Digest

 

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INVESTING

Plant-Based Food Innovation with Univar and TerraVia 

FILE - This July 15, 2013, file photo, shows a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Hopes that a deal between Greece and its creditors could be cobbled together in time to avoid a messy Greek exit from the euro sent stock markets across Europe sharply higher on Wednesday, July 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) ORG XMIT: NYSB301

Plant-Based Food Innovation with Univar and TerraVia

February 13, 2017 08:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TerraVia (NASDAQ:TVIA) and Univar, a distributor of food ingredients and provider of value-added services across Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), announced today a distribution agreement across Europe for the AlgaVia® brand of Whole Algae Ingredients.

“The relationship enhances our ability to serve the European markets and provide plant-based allergen-free ingredients to brands and consumers throughout the regions.”

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“TerraVia’s innovative portfolio of products and company culture complement Univar’s approach and direction,” commented Simon Atkins, EMEA Industry Director, Univar Food Ingredients. “This portfolio will enable our customers to manufacture the next generation of food products to support the most important food trends that we see in the marketplace in 2017 and beyond.”

TerraVia’s product lines include Lipid-Rich Whole Algae and Protein-Rich Whole Algae. Lipid-Rich Whole Algae is available in golden and cream varieties, which can replace eggs and dairy fats in a wide range of applications including bakery, beverages and desserts. The removal of the animal-derived components can reduce calories, cholesterol and saturated fat, whilst maintaining the desired taste, mouth-feel and texture of the end product. Protein-Rich Whole Algae, which contains 63 percent protein and has a high digestibility of 88 percent, contains all essential amino acids and six times the arginine levels of standard whey. Suitable applications for the ingredient include, but are not limited to, beverages, bakery and snacks for protein enrichment purposes…

Finish reading: Plant-Based Food Innovation with Univar and TerraVia | Business Wire

 

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INVESTING

Soylent Thinks It Found What Was Making People Sick: Algae – Bloomberg

The startup is removing an algae-based ingredient from its food products. Its supplier TerraVia says the substance is safe.
by

Olivia Zaleski
November 7, 2016, 10:00 AM EST November 7, 2016, 5:02 PM EST

Since its introduction in 2013, the protein drink Soylent has become the go-to food substitute for many coders and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. For $2 a serving, techies too busy to cook for themselves can pour the powder mix into a glass of water and imbibe a nutrient-rich, if bland-tasting, meal. It’s like a jock protein shake but for nerds.

But this summer, as the company was riding a wave of positive publicity into its third year, reports of illness started to surface. Customers complained of nausea and other stomach issues after eating newer formulations of its products. In October, Soylent maker Rosa Foods Inc. stopped selling its powder mix and recalled its protein bars.

The Los Angeles food-tech startup thinks the problem has to do with plants that grow on the ocean floor. The company believes an algae-based ingredient unique to the two new products was to blame for the illnesses and plans to remove it from future versions. “We are releasing new formulations of our powder mix and meal replacement bars early next year,” said Rob Rhinehart, Soylent’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “Our new formulations will no longer contain algal flour.”…

Read more: Soylent Thinks It Found What Was Making People Sick: Algae – Bloomberg