Exhibit 99.1
SK global chemical to Acquire 10 Percent Equity Stake in Loop
Industries, Companies Announce Strategic Partnership to Bring
Sustainable and Circular Plastics to Asian Market
●
Memorandum of
Understanding outlining terms of Joint Venture to build Infinite
Loop™ facilities in Asia
●
Equity investment
of $56.5 million will be used by Loop towards funding its planned
Canadian Infinite Loop™ facility in Bécancour,
Québec
●
SK global chemical
to become second largest shareholder
●
Loop Industries to
hold corporate update call at 11:30am Eastern Time
today
Montréal (Canada)/ ACCESSWIRE/ June 23, 2021 / Loop
Industries (NASDAQ:LOOP) (“Loop” or “The
Company”), a leading innovator in clean technology whose
mission is to accelerate a sustainable plastics economy, today
announced that it intends to form a strategic partnership with SK
global chemical Co. Ltd. (“SKGC”), a subsidiary of
South Korea’s SK Group, one of Asia’s largest
conglomerates, to accelerate the commercialization of Loop’s
sustainable polyethylene terephthalate (“PET”) plastic
and polyester fiber manufacturing technology throughout
Asia.
Loop’s
patented technology allows for waste PET plastic and polyester
fiber to be upcycled into virgin-quality PET using low heat and no
added pressure. This low energy process allows Loop to eliminate
contaminants, such as dyes, additives, and other impurities,
preventing otherwise unrecyclable materials like colored and
contaminated plastics or textiles from ending up in landfills and
natural areas.
Joint Venture Partnership
Loop
and SKGC intend to form a joint venture with exclusivity to build
sustainable PET plastic and polyester fiber manufacturing
facilities throughout Asia, which accounts for approximately 60
percent of the world’s population, making it a key market in
terms of plastic manufacturing, consumption and waste. Under the
terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) for
the proposed joint venture, SK global chemical will own 51 percent
of the joint venture and Loop will own 49 percent. Loop will also
receive a recurring annual royalty fee as a percentage of revenue
from each facility for the use of its technology.
SKGC
has today issued a separate press release discussing Loop’s
technology and SKGC’s objectives for the Joint Venture. As
stated in SKCG’s press release, initial discussions between
the partners contemplate beginning preparation on a first facility
located in South Korea in the first half of 2022 and the
construction of four facilities in Asia by 2030, with projected
combined consumption of waste PET plastic and polyester fiber
amounting to approximately 400,000 tons.
Once
fully operational, these four facilities could claim an annual
savings of 632,100 metric tons of CO2, which is the
equivalent of more than 2.5 billion kilometers driven by an average
passenger vehicle or ~270 million liters of gasoline
consumed.1
Strategic Equity Investment
In
addition, Loop and SKGC have concluded a definitive agreement for
SKGC to become a strategic investor in Loop. SKGC will purchase
4,714,813 new treasury common shares of Loop at a price of $12 per
share, for total consideration of $56.5 million. Loop intends to
use these proceeds toward the funding of its planned Infinite
Loop™ manufacturing facility at its recently acquired site in
Bécancour, Québec.
SKGC is
also being granted options to acquire an additional 461,298 common
shares at $11 per share within the next 12 months, 4,714,813 common
shares at a price of $15 per share, within the next 3 years, and a
further 2,357,407 shares at $20 per share, conditional upon the
timing of construction of the first Asian manufacturing facility.
SKGC is being granted a seat on Loop’s Board of Directors and
as such is expected to provide valued input into the continuing
development of Loop’s global commercialization
strategy.
Closing of the strategic equity investment is as soon as practical
and no later than 90 days from announcement.
Management Commentary
“We
are delighted to form a strategic partnership with SK global
chemical,” said Daniel Solomita, Founder and CEO of Loop
Industries. “SK global chemical is an ideal strategic partner
to accelerate the growth of our company and the global
commercialization of our technology. Its scale and sophistication,
its global chemicals manufacturing footprint and a shared vision to
create value through sustainability and innovation make them a
valued partner in our journey to bring our technology to
market.”
“Our
team has been extremely impressed by the thoroughness and extent of
SKGC’s technical due diligence on Loop, which it has
conducted over the past several months, including a recent on-site
verification of Loop’s technology at our demonstration
facility,” he added. “We are excited to collaborate
with SKGC to commercialize our technology and play a meaningful
role together to mitigate the environmental impact of global
plastic waste and help consumer brands meet their stated goals for
achieving high rates of recycled content in their
products.”
SK
global chemical’s CEO, Kyung Soo Na said: “We look
forward to collaborating closely with the acclaimed company, Loop,
which has great technology competencies in correlation to the
plastics recycling category. Furthermore, it is our sincere
intention to further expand and add value in the APAC region
together with Loop backed by its Chemical Recycling technology that
will work towards realizing a Plastic Circular
Economy.”
Corporate Update Call
Daniel
Solomita, Chief Executive Officer of Loop Industries, will host a
corporate update call, followed by a question-and-answer session,
which can be accessed via the dial-in numbers below.
To
access the call, please use the following information:
|
Date:
|
Wednesday,
June 23, 2021
|
|
Time:
|
11:30 a.m. Eastern time
|
|
Dial-in:
|
1-877-407-9716
|
|
International Dial-in:
|
1-201-493-6779
|
|
Conference Code:
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13720718
|
|
Webcast:
|
http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=145340
|
A
telephone replay will be available approximately three hours after
the call and will run through July 23, 2021 by dialing
1-844-512-2921 from the U.S., or 1-412-317-6671 from international
locations, and entering replay pin number: 13720718. The replay can
also be viewed through the webcast link above.
About Loop Industries
Loop
Industries is a technology company whose mission is to accelerate
the world's shift toward sustainable PET plastic and polyester
fiber and away from our dependence on fossil fuels. Loop owns
patented and proprietary technology that depolymerizes no and
low-value waste PET plastic and polyester fiber, including plastic
bottles and packaging, carpets and textiles of any color,
transparency or condition and even ocean plastics that have been
degraded by the sun and salt, to its base building blocks
(monomers). The monomers are filtered, purified and polymerized to
create virgin-quality Loop™ branded PET resin and polyester
fiber suitable for use in food-grade packaging, thus enabling our
customers to meet their sustainability objectives. Loop Industries
is contributing to the global movement towards a circular economy
by preventing plastic waste and recovering waste plastic for a more
sustainable future for all.
Common
shares of Loop Industries are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market
under the symbol "LOOP."
For
more information, please visit www.loopindustries.com. Follow us on
Twitter: @loopindustries
Instagram: loopindustries,
Facebook: Loop
Industries and LinkedIn: Loop Industries
About SK global chemical
In
1972, SK global chemical laid the foundation for the development of
petrochemical industry by operating the first naphtha-cracking
facility in Korea. We provide various automotive & packaging
products and solutions that customers and markets require.
Furthermore we are growing into a technology-based global chemical
company through continuous R&D efforts and global
expansion.
SK
global chemical will achieve its vision, ‘Green for Better
Life’, by establishing a plastics based circular economy by
collaborating with various partners and stakeholders. We will
expand our portfolio of eco-friendly products and will continuously
recycle beyond the amount of plastics that we produce in order to
realize and leverage the sustainability efforts that will benefit
our planet.
For
more information, please visit www.skglobalchemical.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined
in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will,"
"plans," "expects," "anticipates," "should," "could," "projects,"
"predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential"
or "continute" the negative of such terms or similar words. These
forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements
about our market opportunity, our strategies, ability to improveand
expand our capabilities, competition, expected activities and
expenditures as we pursue our business plan, the adequacy of our
available cash resources, regulatory compliance, plans for future
growth and future operations, the size of our addressable market,
market trends, and the effectiveness of the Company's internal
control over financial reporting. Forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain
assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond Loop's control, and cannot
be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with among
other things: (i) commercialization of our technology and products,
(ii) our status of relationship with partners, (iii) development
and protection of our intellectual property and products, (iv)
industry competition, (v) our need for and ability to obtain
additional funding, (vi) building our manufacturing facility, (vii)
our ability to scale, manufacture and sell our products in order to
generate revenues, (viii) our proposed business model and our
ability to execute thereon, (ix) adverse effects on the Company's
business and operations as a result of increased regulatory, media
or financial reporting scrutiny and practices, rumors or otherwise,
(x) disease epidemics and health related concerns, such as the
current outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19), which
could result in (and, in the case of the COVID-19 outbreak, has
resulted in some of the following) reduced access to capital
markets, supply chain disruptions and scrutiny or embargoing of
goods produced in affected areas, government-imposed mandatory
business closures and resulting furloughs of our employees,
government employment subsidy programs, travel restrictions or the
like to prevent the spread of disease, and market or other changes
that could result in noncash impairments of our intangible assets,
and property, plant and equipment, (xi) the outcome of the current
SEC investigation or recent class action litigation filed against
us, (xii) our ability to hire and/or retain qualified employees and
consultants and (xiii) other factors discussed in our subsequent
filings with the SEC. More detailed information about Loop and the
risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking
statements is set forth in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Investors and security holders are
urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's web site
at http://www.sec.gov. Loop assumes no obligation to publicly
update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Media Contact
Loop Industries
Stephanie
Corrente, Director of Marketing & Communications
+1
(450) 951-8555 ext. 226
scorrente@loopindustries.com
SK global chemical
Joon
young Jeong, Professional Manager
SK
Innovation | Value Creation Center
Media PR - Battery
business
010-7659-5699
jay.jung@sk.com
Loop Industries Investor Relations
MZ
Group - MZ North America
+1
(949) 259-4987
LOOP@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us