Taaleri’s associated company Fintoil secured EUR 80 million senior debt package and reached financial close of its biorefinery investment

Yesterday, on 22 June 2021, Fintoil successfully completed the issuance of EUR 70 million Senior Secured Green Bond, rated Medium Green by Cicero, combined with a committed EUR 10m Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility. Fintoil has now secured the financing comprising ca. EUR 130 million of equity and debt for its biorefinery investment in Hamina, Finland. The investment is now fully financed and on schedule for completion by July 2022.

The Senior Secured Green Bond has a maturity of 4 years and carries a fixed coupon of 7.5% p.a. The proceeds from the SSGB will be used entirely on the biorefinery investment according to Fintoil’s Green Finance Framework. Fintoil also secured a multi-year binding commitment for a Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility for working capital needs and initially intended for the financing of raw material purchases. Nordea Bank Abp acted as the Sole Lead Manager of the issue and provided the Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility.

With the completion of the senior debt financing package, Fintoil has reached the financial close of its CTO biorefinery project amounting to ca. EUR 130 million, comprising Senior Secured Green Bond (EUR 70 million) and Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility (EUR 10 million) as well as EUR 40 million of preferred equity and EUR 11 million of seed equity. Taaleri’s corporate finance arm Taaleri Kapitaali has acted as Fintoil’s financial adviser in all stages of financing since 2018.

Fintoil’s Hamina biorefinery, which will start up in July 2022, refines crude fatty acids from the by-product of softwood pulp, crude tall oil (CTO), to produce second-generation renewable diesel and biochemicals for chemical, food and pharmaceutical industries. The biorefinery has an annual refining capacity of 200,000 tonnes of CTO feedstock. Fintoil aims at a revenue of EUR 150 million and will employ 35 persons directly and an estimated 100 persons indirectly. Fintoil’s refinery utilizes the patented NEXPINUS™ technology provided by Neste Engineering Solutions, which enables more than 40% lower energy consumption in comparison to a traditional tall oil refinery. When completed, the Hamina biorefinery will be the world’s third largest crude tall oil refinery.

The new biorefinery accelerates efforts by Finland and the EU to reach carbon neutrality as the CO2 footprint of CTO derivatives is up to 90% lower than its fossil alternatives. Crude tall oil is classified as a sustainable feedstock for advanced biofuels in the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive. Fintoil’s production is projected to enable reduction of CO2 emissions of up to 400,000 tonnes annually equaling to roughly one percent of Finland’s total net emissions. Fintoil aims at CO2 free production process as the world’s first CTO biorefinery by 2027.

Fintoil’s CEO Jukka Ravaska says: “With the completion of the senior debt financing package our biorefinery investment in Hamina is now fully financed and the company has also secured its working capital financing. I would like to thank all the investors for their vote of confidence and Finnvera for their underwriting which made the bond issue successful. We are now happy to be able to focus all our efforts on completing the biorefinery investment. The construction project, commenced in February, has progressed without delays or budget overruns. We are confident that our CTO refinery will start up as scheduled in July 2022.”

Taaleri Kapitaali’s Managing Director Vesa Heikkilä says: “Our multi-year mandate to arrange Fintoil’s financing has now been successfully completed. In the past three years, the financing of the investment project has been enabled by a group of Finnish family offices as well as selected institutional and private investors as Taaleri’s co-investors. We are happy that the senior debt financing package attracted also Nordic institutional investors. I believe this is a sign of not only increasing interest towards impact investing but also that combating climate change and the green transition can open profitable and interesting business opportunities for investors.”

Contacts

Jukka Ravaska, CEO, Fintoil Oy, +358 50 310 4437, jukka.ravaska@fintoil.com
Vesa Heikkilä, Managing Director, Taaleri Kapitaali Oy, +358 50 355 4541, vesa.heikkila@taaleri.com

About Fintoil

Fintoil was founded in 2017 to focus on the refining of Crude Tall Oil. FIntoil’s founders and key persons have decades of experience from Crude Tall Oil investments and businesses. Fintoil’s largest shareholder with its 27.4% ownership is Taaleri Investments Ltd, which manages Taaleri Group’s own investments. Other shareholders include Taaleri’s Finnish co-investors, founders and management.

About Taaleri

Taaleri is a Nordic investment and asset manager with an emphasis on renewable energy and other alternative investments. We channel capital towards economically profitable undertakings that have a lasting positive impact on the environment and society. We have been a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) since 2010. Our vision is to be a Nordic pioneer in alternative investments focusing on sustainability.

Taaleri has two business segments: Private Asset Management and Strategic Investments. Private assets management consists of renewable energy, real estate. bioindustry and infrastructure businesses. The Strategic Investments segment consists of Garantia Insurance Company Ltd.

Taaleri has EUR 1.7 bn of assets under management in its private equity funds and co-investments. The company has approximately 120 employees. Taaleri Plc is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.