RCS - HeiQ PLC - MAS Holdings invests in HeiQ AeoniQ

HeiqAnnouncement

06/07/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1142F  HeiQ PLC  06 July 2023

RNS Reach

06 July 2023

 

HeiQ Plc

("HeiQ" or "the Company")

 

MAS Holdings invests in HeiQ AeoniQ

 

HeiQ Plc (LSE: HEIQ), a leading company in materials innovation, announces
that MAS Holdings ("MAS"), a global apparel & textile manufacturing and
tech conglomerate headquartered in Sri Lanka, and the largest apparel and
textile manufacturer in South Asia with approximately USD2 billion in
turnover, through MAS' affiliate company, MAS Regent Pte Ltd., has secured a
stake in HeiQ AeoniQ GmbH, a subsidiary of HeiQ Group that will produce HeiQ
AeoniQ™, the Company's climate-positive cellulosic yarn.

With this US$2.5 million investment (US$1.5 million with the contract
signature, and US$1 million upon reaching a mutually agreed milestone), MAS
becomes the first manufacturer to partner with HeiQ AeoniQ™ in their efforts
to provide a sustainable alternative to polyester and nylon. The investment by
MAS is part of its strategy to drive a positive environmental impact. The MAS
"Plan for Change" initiative aims to generate 50% of the company's revenue
through sustainable products by 2025, revolutionizing the textile industry
with a focus on innovation, sustainable sourcing, and pioneering circularity
at scale.

HeiQ and MAS firmly believe that rapid scaling is key to facilitating the fast
adoption of sustainable, circular technologies such as HeiQ AeoniQ™.
Therefore, and subject to the completion of certain milestones and a mutual
plan for commercialization, HeiQ and MAS have agreed to a five-year
non-binding offtake agreement, pursuant to which the Company expects to
receive purchase orders of up to US$100 million over a 5-year period,
corresponding to 3,000 tons of HeiQ AeoniQ™ yarn in 2025 and 5,000 tons per
year from 2026 to 2029.

Since its launch in Q4 2021 the HeiQ AeoniQ™ technology has been attracting
the attention of major global players in the textile and clothing industries.

Using a proprietary manufacturing method, for the first time in history, a
cellulosic filament yarn can be made from a wide range of non-valorized
feedstock and is able to reproduce comparable performance features of
polyester or nylon, while being sustainable and endlessly circular.

The HeiQ AeoniQ™ pilot plant in Austria has been manufacturing this
continuous cellulosic filament yarn since Q3 2022, with an annual capacity of
up to 100 tons that will be upscaled up to 300 tons per year by the end of
2023.

The scale-up of HeiQ AeoniQ™ production capacity will be driven over the
coming years, and it is expected that by early 2026, the first large scale
production site with an annual capacity of about 30,000 tons will be
commissioned.

Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ Group, said, "Since the beginning, HeiQ has
pioneered textile innovation, revolutionizing sustainable functionality and
enhancing the lives of billions. With the introduction of HeiQ AeoniQ™, we
solidify our unwavering commitment to disrupting the textile industry -a
sector that has long held the dubious distinction of being the world's
second-largest polluter. MAS' investment and offtake agreement serves as a
resounding endorsement of HeiQ AeoniQ™, and is a natural result of the trust
built over a decade that HeiQ and MAS have been doing business together."

Group Chief Executive Officer of MAS Holdings, Suren Fernando adds, "MAS was
built on the foundational belief of doing the right thing. As a global
organization nurturing over 100,000 individuals, we are convinced of our
responsibility to drive positive change within the apparel industry through
sustainable product solutions. We believe that this investment is an important
step in our efforts to reshape our industry by driving innovation,
collaboration, and scale. With HeiQ AeoniQ™ as a key catalyst, we are poised
to pave the way for a more sustainable future."

Polyester and nylon, two oil-based fibers, virtually non-recyclable, account
for about 70% of all the global textile production, they take between 350 to
1000 years to degrade in nature, are currently close loop recycled at less
than 1%, and are at the origin of 35% of the microplastics that can be found
in today's oceans. HeiQ AeoniQ™ was innovated and is being hyper-scaled up
to change this course of action.

 

For further information, please contact:

 HeiQ Plc                                          +41 56 250 68 50

 Carlo Centonze (CEO)
 Cenkos Securities plc (Broker)                    +44 (0) 207 397 8900

 Stephen Keys / Callum Davidson
 SEC Newgate (Media Enquiries)                     +44 (0) 20 3757 6882

 Elisabeth Cowell / Molly Gretton / Tom Carnegie   HeiQ@s (mailto:HeiQ@secnewgate.co.uk) ecnewgate (mailto:HeiQ@secnewgate.co.uk)
                                                   .co.uk (mailto:HeiQ@secnewgate.co.uk)

 

About HeiQ

HeiQ is a Swiss-based international company that innovates pioneering and
differentiating materials in partnership with established global brands. We
bridge the academic and commercial worlds to conceive performance-enhancing
materials and technologies, working with aligned brands to research,
manufacture and bring products to market, aiming for lab to consumer in
months. Our goal is to improve the lives of billions by innovating the
materials that go into everyday products, making them more hygienic,
comfortable, protective, and sustainable.

Our strong IP portfolio positions us as an innovation leader for niche,
premium and high-margin products in the textile chemicals, man-made fibers,
paints and coatings, antimicrobial plastics, probiotics and household cleaner
markets. We have also expanded into healthcare facilities, probiotic cleaning,
and hygiene coatings markets to help make hospitals and healthcare
environments more hygienic.

We have developed over 200 technologies in partnership with 300 major brands.
With a substantial research and development pipeline, including key technology
development projects HeiQ AeoniQ, HeiQ ECOS, HeiQ GrapheneX, and HeiQ Synbio,
HeiQ aims to deliver shareholder value through sales growth and entry into new
lucrative markets through disruptive innovation and M&A.

We have built a strong reputation for ESG & sustainable innovation, having
won multiple awards including the Swiss Technology Award twice and the Swiss
Environmental Award. Under experienced leadership, we are committed to driving
our profit in close connection with people and the planet. For more
information, please visit www.heiq.com.

 

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