Kartell enters Bio-on to help develop new technologies

Bio-on researchers confirm the extraordinary versatility of the completely natural and 100% biodegradable technology currently in development: a platform product that will be used to transform the electronics sector and make it eco-sustainable.

Bio-on, listed on the AIM segment of Borsa Italiana and a leading player in the new eco-sustainable chemical industry, announces a strategic agreement with Kartell, through its parent company Felofin which takes a 2% stake in Bio-on with a 10 million Euro investment. Kartell is a symbolic Made in Italy company: experimentation with new technologies and an innovative use of plastics have always formed the basis of its products, and the challenge facing both Bio-on and Kartell today is to accelerate the development of organic electronics based on Bio-on’s technologies in order to gain a leadership position in this new sector. Research in this field of application is already being conducted at Bio-on laboratories and the first results are expected in 2018.

“The investment announced today marks the entry of a strategic partner into our company,” explains Bio-on Chairman and CEO Marco Astorri, “and we are particularly proud that such a prestigious brand as Kartell recognises the innovation and potential of the technologies developed by Bio-on. The new frontier in organic electronics has long been a part of the development plan for our bioplastic, a platform product that has already shown it can be used in various industrial sectors to make eco-sustainable products. This is why we want to share our technology with an industrial partner like Kartell, which represents Italian excellence around the world.”

“I am very pleased to be exploring the ‘future’,” explains Kartell Chairman Claudio Luti, “and particularly discovering new and completely different technologies from the ones we have used to date. This partnership is in line with the strategies of Kartell, which is always looking for innovations that can take the brand forward as it grows and develops both industrially and in terms of products. Incredibly innovative materials are in development and, together with Bio-on, we can be a part of this great change.”

All the biomaterials developed by Bio-on (PHAs or polyhydroxyalkanoates) are made from renewable plant sources with no competition with food supply chains. In most cases, they guarantee the same thermo-mechanical properties as conventional plastics with the advantage of being 100% eco-sustainable and naturally biodegradable. Thanks to these special characteristics, Bio-on today extends the use of its materials to the most innovative and interesting fields of application such as organic electronics.

Felofin completed the purchase of a 2% stake in Bio-on S.p.A, purchasing 377,000 shares on 15 December 2017 in equal parts directly from founding partners Marco Astorri and Guy Cicognani at a unit price of 26.5251 Euro (for an overall equivalent of 10 million Euro).
Following the operation, the controlling share of the two founding partners is equal to 61.01%: Marco Astorri and Guy Cicognani now directly hold 6.60% each, while the shares held by Capsa Srl, controlled by the two partners, continue to represent 47.81% of Bio-on S.p.A.’s shares.