Quadrise Fuels International : Memorandum of Understanding with Bitumina

Memorandum of Understanding with Bitumina

Released : 27 Mar 2019 07:00

RNS Number : 0970U

Quadrise Fuels International PLC

27 March 2019

27 March 2019

Quadrise Fuels International plc

("Quadrise", "QFI" or the "Company")

Memorandum of Understanding with Bitumina

Quadrise is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Bitumina Industries Limited ("Bitumina UK"), represented by Bitumina General Trading LLC of Dubai ("Bitumina").

The Bitumina Group, led by Dr Bernd Schmidt, was founded nearly 100 years ago and is now a world leader in producing, trading and supplying a wide range of bitumen products for use in road construction. The Bitumina Group also has a business in Denmark that manufactures and sells colloidal mills and plants for bituminous products and road emulsion production, similar to the unit used for MSAR® manufacture.

Bitumina UK is under incorporation for the purposes of implementing Bitumina's intended vertical integration strategy in the global bitumen sector from refinery production through to road and other applications, including the development of the MSAR® business with Quadrise under the MOU.

The non‐binding MOU defines the structure through which Quadrise and Bitumina will work together on an exclusive basis to seek to progress selected MSAR® project opportunities ("MSAR® Projects") in the Commonwealth of Independent States (including Russia), Poland, Romania, and Vietnam to commercial agreements for the production and supply of MSAR® fuel.

During an initial scoping phase, QFI will perform laboratory pilot tests to establish emulsification parameters and formulations for selected MSAR® Projects. The parties will make use of existing Bitumina terminal assets and, in parallel, Quadrise will fully test the applicability of Bitumina's technology and IP (as well as that of affiliated companies and partners) at the Quadrise Research Facility for applicability to future MSAR® fuel projects. Under the MOU, the parties will also prepare detailed techno‐economic studies for MSAR® Projects involving selected counterparties to establish the economics of MSAR® production and supply to potential MSAR® users.

Subsequent commercial agreements will be structured so that Quadrise and Bitumina will share profits of any project delivered on the basis of the IP, resources and financial inputs of each party utilising shared assets and infrastructure.

The term of the MOU is 24 months, after which time it will expire unless mutually extended by the parties or superseded by another agreement.

Commenting on this development:

Mike Kirk, Executive Chairman of QFI, said:

"We are delighted to sign this MOU with Bitumina to progress commercial opportunities, initially in Eastern Europe. With an initial focus on the Bitumina terminal assets, we look forward to seeking to realise the commercial benefits from the complementary nature of our businesses.

Utilising Bitumina's existing assets and in‐depth market knowledge, we hope to be able to progress to commercial terms with third parties at the earliest opportunity and to deliver value to shareholders of both QFI and Bitumina through the use of MSAR® technology to supply large scale projects in the power and marine sectors."

Dr Bernd Schmidt, Chairman & Managing Director of Bitumina, said:

"Bitumina see extensive potential in deploying Quadrise's MSAR® technology to add value to our terminal assets and technology, and we look forward to working with Quadrise to advance projects where MSAR® has clear economic and environmental advantages over existing fuel sources and we believe that in combination with our assets and market knowledge, a solid commercialisation for production and distribution of competitive MSAR® products on a global scale can be achieved.

We shall make all our resources and knowledge available to Quadrise to allow them to commercialise their excellent MSAR® product to clients, initially in Eastern Europe utilising our, and our partners, production capacities and export infrastructure to global markets, and we are certain that MSAR® will be a highly viable fuel option for power and marine applications among others, especially post IMO 2020."

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at www.quadrisefuels.com,or contact [e-mail] r phone:

Quadrise Fuels International Plc

Mike Kirk, Executive Chairman[phone]

Jason Miles, Chief Operating Officer

Nominated Adviser

Cenkos Securities plc

Dr Azhic Basirov[phone]

Ben Jeynes

Katy Birkin

Joint Brokers

Peel Hunt LLP

Richard Crichton[phone]

Ross Allister

Stockdale Securities

Andy Crossley[phone]

Daniel Harris

Public & Investor Relations

FTI Consulting

Ben Brewerton[phone]

Ntobeko Chidavaenzi

For further information about Bitumina, please refer to their website at www.bitumina.co.uk

Notes to Editors

QFI is the supplier of MSAR® emulsion technology and fuels, a low‐cost alternative to heavy fuel oil (one of the world's largest fuel markets, comprising over 450 million tons per annum) in the global power generation, shipping, steam and refining industries.

This announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

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