News & Headlines in the Chemicals Venture Space

From October 1st thru 14th 2016 🎃🎃🎃

⚗ This series focuses on Chemical venture related news and new chemical technologies being commercialized, funding news, M&As, IPOs, and other headlines that caught my eye. Learning from claim sets to term sheets, we can see how the industry is shifting to new technologies or processes from corporate venture capital leading rounds to other small businesses trying to innovate and disrupt.

I put this out early because of some interesting Job Opportunities that arose that will be closed before the end of October. Work those networks if interested!

📉 Public Markets News 📈

Monsanto $MON Q4 Revenue, $2.56B vs. $2.38B expected; Q4 Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) beats estimates, $0.07 vs. ($0.02) expected

Monsanto’s Past Quarter Performance

Later this month, a number of quarterly results will be coming from other major players including Air Products & Chemicals (APD), LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB), and Praxair, Inc. (PX). I’ll make a some TL;DR summaries of the results as they come out to help you follow what’s happening in the public markets.

💸 IPOs

Bloom Energy, a maker of fuel cell power generators that has raised $1.2 billion from investors over its 15-year history and was valued by investors at $2.9 billion back in 2011, has filed confidential IPO papers.

Bloom Energy has some of the biggest venture capitalists (e.g. KPCB’s John Doer, a Google / Amazon investor) in Silicon Valley as backers and former Secretary of State Colin Powell on its board. Bloom Energy makes power generators that take in natural gas and convert it to electricity. Customers, including eBay, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and FedEx, have put Bloom Energy’s generators at their offices in hopes of reduced energy costs.

🎉 M&A News 🎊

• Total SA has agreed to sell specialty chemicals business, Atotech, a a supplier of plating chemicals, to investment firm The Carlyle Group for $3.2 billion, part of the French oil major’s efforts to slim down and raise cash in the face of a slump in oil prices.
• American Securities has agreed to acquire Ohio-based Chromaflo Technologies Corp, a provider of colorants and chemical dispersions
• Chase Corporation acquires Resin Designs an advanced adhesives and sealants manufacturer.
• American Synthol acquires Travis Oil, a synthetic oil R&D company

💰 Venture Capital Financings and News

• Axine Water Technologies, developer of chemical-free solutions for treating ammonia & toxic organics in industrial wastewater, closed $8m Series B round.

⚖ Private Equity Deals

• New Fund: Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors has closed its seventh flagship energy private equity fund with approximately $2 billion in capital commitments
• Valagro SpA, an Italy-based maker of biostimulants and specialty nutrients, has raised an undisclosed amount of growth equity funding from Metalmark Capital
• RSP Permain (NYSE: RSSP) has agreed to acquire Silver Hill Energy Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company focused on the Permian Basin, for $2.4 billion in cash from Silver Hill shareholders like Kayne Anderson and Ridgemont Equity Partners
• CIC Partners has acquired a majority stake in Activa Resources LLC, a San Antonio, Texas-based oil and gas company focused on acquiring legacy oil and gas fields and applying new optimization technology
• Abraaj Group has acquired a minority equity stake in Indorama Fertilizers BV, the largest urea fertilizer manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa, from Dutch petrochemicals company Indorama Corp.
• Centerbridge Partners and Littlejohn & Co. have become the largest shareholders in Houston-based oil drilling services business Stallion Oilfield Holdings Inc.
• Clearlake Capital Group has sponsored an out-of-bankruptcy recapitalization of Light Tower Rentals Inc., an Odessa, Texas-based specialty equipment rental company focused on oil and gas operations in the prolific Permian Basin.
• Equistone Partners Europe has acquired a majority stake in United Initiators, a German producer of specialty chemical initiators, from Vision Capital and Speyside Equity
• First Reserve has agreed to acquire Gas Natural Inc. (NYSE MKT: EGAS), a Cleveland-based operator of local natural gas utilities serving around 68,000 customers in Maine, Montana, North Carolina and Ohio.
• Precision Global, a New York-based portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital, has acquired Ralpet Plastics, an Australian manufacturer of injection and blow molded plastics products

🗿 Interesting Industry News, Trends, & Opinions (my own)

The Nobel Prizes came out last week and some cool images and videos came from the selection committee worth taking a look at:

• Medicine: The word “autophagy” comes from the Greek words “auto-” meaning ‘self’ and “phagein,” meaning ‘to eat.’

“Autophagy” or self-eating is the process of degrading and recycling cellular components

The organelle autophagosome engulfs cellular contents and fuses with the lysosome, where the contents are degraded

The interest in autophagy generated an enormous interest and is now one of the most intensely studies areas of biomedical research

• Chemistry: Feringa compares his work on the nanomachines to the Wright Brothers, who made their maiden flight more than 100 years ago. “People were saying, why do we need a flying machine? Now we have a Boeing 747 and an Airbus.” The molecular discovery “opens up a whole new world of nanomachines,” he said, while acknowledging that, as scientists figure out how to make machines that can operate autonomously, “we have to think about how we can handle these things safely.”

In 1999, Ben Feringa builds the first molecular motors

• Venture capital and private equity investment in startups developing clean energy technologies shot up 73% in the third quarter.
• UltraTech International, Inc. will demonstrate the Ultra-Fire Grate at the Formula 1 US Grand Prix in Austin, TX later in October. The brand new, Ultra-Fire Grate is a passive fire suppression system designed to work with the company’s current spill containment products. The patented, plastic grating offers customers a lightweight and non-skid surface that is able to drain and contain large volumes of liquid, while simultaneously starving any burning liquid of the oxygen and heat required to burn. The Ultra-Fire Grate is ideally suited for high flashpoint hazardous materials such as diesel and other petrochemical products, and will extinguish spilled liquids once they are drained below the surface.

💼 Job Opportunities

Shell Technology Ventures is looking to bring onboard a principal. The job is in San Francisco with at least 10 years of experience in venture capital at a (corporate) VC with a focus on software and/or energy, transportation, cleantech.

Samsung Semiconductor is looking for an Investment Manager based in Menlo Park, who will be responsible for leading Samsung Ventures’ investment activities in various technology sectors including but not limited to mobile, TV, artificial intelligence, healthcare IT, semiconductor, and advanced materials.

Carlson Capital, L.P. is looking for an Energy Sector Associate Analyst. The job is in Dallas with at least 2 years of experience, but not more than 4, looking to analyze special situations in energy globally across energy, chemicals, coal and refining.

Alvarez & Marsal is looking for a Director, Operations — Chemicals Practice.

Deutsche Bank is looking for a US Chemicals Associate in New York.

Anything else catch your eye? Hit reply at the bottom of interesting news that you saw. If you have feedback, drop me a line on @NRaush! I would also love any feedback on this series and what direction you think I should go.

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