RCS - Agronomics Limited - Investee company Update: Liberation Labs

AgronomicsAnnouncement

25/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 7302N  Agronomics Limited  25 January 2023

25th January 2023

Agronomics Limited

 

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

 

Liberation Labs Announces Site for First Purpose-Built Commercial Precision
Fermentation Plant

Agronomics (ANIC:LSE), the leading listed company focused on the field of
cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that investee company, Liberation
Labs Holdings Inc ("Liberation Labs"), the large-scale precision fermentation
contract manufacturer, has acquired the land for its launch facility, which
we believe will be the first dedicated, purpose-built, commercial, precision
fermentation plant globally for food production.

Liberation Labs was formed to address the acute shortage in precision
fermentation capacity for the production of proteins for use in food,
including dairy, egg and other proteins. Many of the facilities currently in
use are over 40 years old and do not have the modern downstream equipment to
drive the quality, yield, and production efficiency needed to compete in a
global marketplace.  In the report Food for Thought published by Boston
Consulting Group, it is estimated that current global fermentation capacity is
61 million litres, however the capacity required to meet the projected demand
of 15 megatonnes of fermentation-produced animal protein by 2030 is 10 billion
litres, over a 100-fold increase. The new facility will have a fermentation
capacity of 600k litres and the site will have land available to expand to 4
million litres thereafter. Commercial production is expected to come online at
the end of 2024.

The Company has invested a total of US$ 7.63 million since Liberation Lab's
inception, which is carried at US$ 18.9 million, and this accounts for
approximately 11.3% of the last published Net Asset Value of Agronomics
(30.09.22). Agronomics has an equity ownership of 37.4% on a fully diluted
basis in Liberation Labs.

Jim Mellon, executive director of Agronomics commented:-

"Liberation Labs is Agronomics' key exposure to the infrastructure required to
support the global shift towards more secure and sustainable methods of
protein production via fermentation, representing a major opportunity for
capital deployment in the coming decade.  Not only is Liberation Labs
building a first-of-a-kind facility, it is also creating an asset class for
institutional investors to be able to participate in the food revolution,
without having to underwrite significant technology and regulatory risk, yet
with highly predictable cashflows."

The full announcement is set out below without any material changes.

Liberation Labs Selects Indiana for First Biomanufacturing Facility

The new facility will be the first purpose-built commercial precision
fermentation plant in the United States.

 

RICHMOND, Ind. (January 24, 2023) (http://www.liberationlabs.com/) Liberation
Labs, a large-scale precision fermentation manufacturer, has executed a
purchase agreement for the site of its first commercial-scale biomanufacturing
facility. The new facility, which will have a fermentation capacity of 600,000
litres with a fully dedicated downstream process (DSP), will be located in the
Midwest Industrial Park in Richmond, Indiana. Commercial production is
expected by the end of 2024.

 

Liberation Labs is focused on increasing the availability of alternative
proteins that will meet the growing demand from both existing major food
brands as well as the emerging crop of foodtech companies. The new facility
will be the first purpose-built commercial-scale precision fermentation plant
in the United States. The company has completed Front End Loading level 3
engineering (FEL-3), and has begun placing orders for long-lead equipment and
building out the operations team. Groundbreaking is expected later this
spring.

 

"The three things a biomanufacturing facility like ours needs are sugar, power
and people - and Richmond, Indiana has them all," said Mark Warner, co-founder
and CEO of Liberation Labs. "While sugar and power are commodities, a
workforce experienced in manufacturing is not, which is why Richmond really
stands out. We are thankful for the support the state and local community has
provided us and we can't wait to break ground."

 

The new facility (https://youtu.be/Ml8eeAwneUA) will be located on a 36-acre
parcel within Phase I of Richmond, Indiana's 700-acre
(https://whywaynecounty.com/sites-building/industrial-parks/midwest-industrial-park/)
Midwest Industrial Park
(https://whywaynecounty.com/sites-building/industrial-parks/midwest-industrial-park/)
, which is owned and maintained by the City of Richmond in partnership with
the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County. Liberation Labs will be
the 10(th) tenant to locate in this well-established industrial park.

 

This site offers tremendous logistical opportunities for the company,
including:

●    Shovel ready site with necessary utility capacity;

●   Proximity to Interstate 70, the Norfolk Southern mainline and three
regional airports for shipping and logistics;

●    Proximity to cost-advantaged carbon feedstocks;

●    Significant percentage of baseload power to facility is clean, solar
energy;

●    Proximity to 3 large metropolitan areas, providing adequate
qualified labour.

 

Liberation Labs will benefit from several key incentives offered by Wayne
County and the State of Indiana, including tax credits, grants, utility
offsets, workforce-related incentives and discounts on the land purchase. The
company expects to invest $115 million in the facility and plans to create an
estimated 45 well-paying manufacturing jobs.

 

"Next generation technology is critical to future food security for people
everywhere, and I am proud that Indiana is leading the charge," said Indiana
Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers. "We are excited to welcome Liberation
Labs to our growing agbiosciences ecosystem. Liberation Labs will continue to
enable companies to innovate while creating high-paying, quality career
opportunities for Hoosiers."

 

Not only will Liberation Labs increase the overall supply of bio-based
consumer products, it also will make them at a lower cost because they will be
manufactured and distributed in the United States. Today, most
biomanufacturing capacity is in Europe but production and shipping fees make
sourcing from there cost-prohibitive.

 

"Securing this partnership and investment from Liberation Labs is another
milestone in our strong relationship with Governor Holcomb and the Indiana
Economic Development Corporation," said Richmond Mayor Dave Snow. "We are
thrilled to add the expertise of Liberation Labs to our Industrial Park. Make
no mistake, when a company of this calibre chooses to invest in Richmond, it's
a resounding vote of confidence that we are moving in the right direction.
With more jobs being created, and such a strong business model, I am confident
this is just the beginning of a long and mutually prosperous relationship."

 

About Liberation Labs

Liberation Labs is commercialising precision fermentation with a global
network of purpose-built, international manufacturing facilities that enable
the next wave of biotechnology advancements to produce bio-based consumer
products at scale. We combine modern technology with fit-for-purpose design to
bring reliable and cost-effective solutions that meet customer demand across
the world. More information is available at (http://www.liberationlabs.com/)
www.liberationlabs.com (http://www.liberationlabs.com/) .

 

Media Contact

John Williams, Scoville PR for Liberation Labs

+1-206-660-5503, jwilliams@scovillepr.com

 

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a
portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to
secure minority stakes in companies owning technologies with defensible
intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials with
a focus on products historically derived from animals. These technologies are
driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to improve
sustainability, as well as addressing human health, animal welfare and
environmental damage. This disruption will decouple supply chains from the
environment and animals and be fundamental to feeding the world's expanding
population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
https://agronomics.im/.

 

About Cellular Agriculture

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists' claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃.

AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's market
share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food Institute's
estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required in order to
produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means that we
are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing
facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating,
however, still less than US$ 5 billion has been invested worldwide since the
industry's inception in 2016.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Agronomics           Beaumont              Canaccord              Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital

 Limited              Cornish Limited       Genuity Limited        Securities Plc        Limited               TB Cardew
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker           Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed         Roland Cornish        Andrew Potts           Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams          Ed Orlebar

 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Harry Rees             Max Gould             Charles Goodfellow    Alistair Walker

                                            Alex Aylen             Michael Johnson

                                            (Head of Equities)
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396                         +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  +44 (0) 20 7930 0777

 info@agronomics.im                         +44 (0) 207 523 8000                                               +44 (0) 7738 724 630

                                                                                                               agronomics@tbcardew.com

 

 

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