Agrinos Secures $15 Million Equity Investment For Growth Strategy
Davis, Ca. (Feb. 6, 2018) ― Agrinos AS (“Agrinos” or the “Company”), a global leader in biological crop nutrition products, has completed a private placement of new shares with the support of long-term investors Manor Investment SA ("Manor"), Havfonn AS ("Havfonn") and EuroChem Group AG ("EuroChem") to support the Company’s continued growth strategy.
The net proceeds from the $14.7 million equity investment are the first tranche of additional commitments. They will be used to accelerate execution of Agrinos’ business plan in 2018 and beyond, including sales growth in core geographies as well as research and development for an enhanced product pipeline.
"Agrinos is committed to being a leader in the agriculture bio-innovation sector. We have a strong track record of product performance in a wide range of crops around the globe and this will drive continued sales growth for the company,” said Agrinos CEO Kevin Helash. “Our shareholders’ renewed financial commitment underscores their belief in the future of Agrinos and our mission to help customers improve crop yields in an environmentally sustainable manner."
“EuroChem fully supports sustainable agriculture, and our investment in Agrinos demonstrates our commitment to this cause,” said Rudolf Graf von Plettenberg, EuroChem Head of Premium Products and Development. “We believe the partnership between EuroChem and Agrinos will enable us to continue combining our strengths in product innovation and to develop the most effective and environmentally-sustainable products for farmers.”
“As long-term investors seeking soil preservation and robust solutions that improve farming practices, Manor is delighted to extend our support to Agrinos,” said Frederic de Stexhe, Manor Principal. “Agrinos has now served more than 175,000 growers in over a dozen countries. Backing Agrinos is a superb investment for Manor, making agriculture more environmentally friendly, more sustainable and more profitable.”
“Havfonn remains confident Agrinos will continue to deliver value-added sustainable solutions to growers around the globe,” said Havfonn CEO Morten Bergensen. “Agrinos has proved its High Yield Technology (HYT) can make a significant contribution to improved resource efficiency for agriculture worldwide.”
In addition to approving the equity investment, Agrinos’ Board of Directors welcomed Frederic de Stexhe, a Principal at Manor, as a new board member. Mr. de Stexhe brings an entrepreneurial background as well as growth capital and technology investment experience to the team. The Board also announced the resignation of board member Matthieu Baumgartner and thanks him for his contributions and guidance over the past years.
For further information, please contact John Janczak, CFO and Investor Relations at +1 817 507 6530 or John.janczak@agrinos.com.
Learn more at: Agrinos.com, @AgrinosGlobal and LinkedIn.
About Agrinos
Agrinos is a biological crop input provider committed to improving the productivity and sustainability of modern agriculture. Agrinos’ range of biofertilizers and biostimulant products helps farmers to practice profitable agriculture by providing increased crop productivity, improved efficiency of conventional fertilizer and a reduced environmental footprint.
Based on Agrinos’ proprietary High Yield Technology (HYT) platform, the HYT® products provide benefits by strengthening the soil-based microbial ecosystem, stimulating crop development at key points in the growth cycle and boosting natural plant resistance to environmental stresses. Agrinos has repeatedly proven the value of its HYT® products in both broad acre and specialty crops in numerous third-party field trials throughout key agriculture regions worldwide.
About EuroChem
EuroChem is a leading provider of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers. Our products deliver the full range of important nutrients and our portfolio extends from classic basic fertilizers, such as Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), Urea, Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) or Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), to our Nitrophoska® complex fertilizers and the innovative stabilized nitrogen fertilizers of our ENTEC® series. The Group is vertically integrated with activities ranging from mining and hydrocarbons extraction to fertilizer production, logistics, and distribution. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, the Group operates production facilities in Belgium, Lithuania, China, Kazakhstan and Russia and employs more than 26,000 people globally.
Cautionary statement on forward-looking statements
This document contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of the company and/or the industry in which it operates. Forward-looking statements concern future circumstances and results and other statements that are not historical facts, sometimes identified by the words “believes”, expects”, “predicts”, “intends”, “projects”, “plans”, “estimates”, “aims”, “foresees”, “anticipates”, “targets”, and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, including assumptions, opinions and views of the company or cited from third party sources are solely opinions and forecasts which are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from any anticipated development. Neither the company, nor any of its parent or subsidiary undertakings or any such person’s officers or employees provides any assurance that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does any of them accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this announcement or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. No obligation, except as required by law, is assumed to update any forward- looking statements or to conform these forward-looking statements to our actual results.
Media Contacts:
Rose Reifsnyder
Agrinos
+1 (612) 840-7204
rose.reifsnyder@agrinos.com
Dave Harding
Charleston|Orwig
+ 1 (262) 563-5075
dharding@charlestonorwig.com