Amyris converts $175M of debt to equity and lands $25M Private Placement

In California, Amyris has signed definitive agreements for the conversion and restructuring of approximately $175 million of debt, to be converted to Amyris common stock, with an additional $5 million of debt converted into joint venture ownership by its joint-venture partner, Total. Simultaneously, Amyris signed definitive agreements for a $25-million private placement led by long-term investor and Board member John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as well as Total and Naxyris.

The $25-million private placement carried a price per share of $1.56, with, subject to approval by stockholders, with warrant coverage of 10%. This private placement is led by one of Amyris’s board members, John Doerr (of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers). Other long-term holders participating in the private placement include Total and Naxyris. Doerr has served on Amyris’s Board since 2006.

The convertible debt conversion transaction, details of which were previously announced by Amyris on June 30, 2015, provides for the exchange by Total Energies Nouvelles Activités USA (a wholly owned subsidiary of Total S.A.) (“Total”) and Temasek – two major stockholders – of $138 million of convertible debt for Amyris common stock at a price of $2.30 per share with an additional $37 million of outstanding convertible debt being restructured to eliminate Amyris’s repayment obligation at maturity and provide for mandatory conversion to Amyris common stock. Amyris expects this transaction to close concurrently with the $25-million private placement.

As a result of this transaction and a related restructuring of Amyris’s fuels joint venture with Total, Amyris and Total have also agreed to proceed with a pathway toward commercialization plans for its jet fuel technology over the coming years. Following the restructuring and provisions related to the agreement with Amyris, Total will own 75% of the joint venture with Amyris. Total and Amyris have decided to proceed with the restructured joint venture based on expectations for the commercial prospects of their ‘drop-in’ high performance biojet fuel, which already has been used in several commercial airline flights.