Altech Chemicals Ltd HPA Project Finance Update

Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is pleased to provide an update on the proposed ~US$144 million listed green bond offering and additional project equity, which in combination would provide the balance of funds required for the recommencement of construction of its Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) project.

Green Bond

Altech continues to work with London based structuring agent Bedford Row Capital Plc (Bedford Row) and Perth based Bluemount Capital (WA) Pty Ltd (Bluemount) to finalise its green bond offering. Project financial, legal, environmental, social & governance (ESG) due diligence has successfully concluded, and legal counsel from various jurisdictions have also completed their respective reviews of documentation. An initial bond offering "reach out" phase to potential subscribers was recently completed and more than 80 groups registering interest to receive the offering documents. Access to the project data room has been provided to a number of these groups for detailed due diligence and potential subscriber due diligence is ongoing. Detailed presentations and individual discussions are being scheduled on request, and these are expected to continue for some time.

Altech is aiming to raise US$144m from the bond issue (Series 2021-F3 Notes), of which US$100m will be used as secondary debt for construction of its Johor HPA plant with the balance of US$44m to service bond interest during the HPA plant's construction phase. The bonds would be issued by Sustainable Capital Plc, a company incorporated in United Kingdom as a dedicated green bond issuance platform (www.sustainablecapitalplc.com). In terms of security, the bonds will be subordinate to the senior project finance of US$190m that is committed from German government owned KfW IPEX-Bank.

Project Equity

In parallel with the bond offering, Altech is progressing the additional equity component of its HPA project funding requirement. US based global investment bank DelMorgan & Co. (Del Morgan) was appointed by Altech in mid-2021 to manage this process for potential North American investors. Del Morgan is a specialised investment bank that has over $300 billion of successful transactions across 75 countries. The Bank has experience over the last 30 years, successfully concluding various project funding transactions around the globe.

In late 2021, DelMorgan completed its detailed project familiarisation and due diligence process and it recently commenced a targeted marketing and reach out process to potential equity investors.

Distribution of comprehensive corporate presentation packs is now underway, and Altech is conducting detailed briefings to potential subscribers, as requested. Also, as with the green bond offering, project data room access has been provided to a number of interested parties to assist them with their respective due diligence activities. Altech is aiming to identify a 49% equity partner to provide US$100m of equity funding as a project level investment.

About Altech Chemicals Ltd:

Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% (4N) high purity alumina (Al2O3) through the construction and operation of a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia. Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the Company's 100%-owned kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia and shipped to Malaysia.

HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components. Increasingly HPA is used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers as the coating on the battery's separator, which improves performance, longevity and safety of the battery. With global HPA demand approximately 19,000t (2018), it is estimated that this demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% (2018-2028); by 2028 HPA market demand will be approximately 272,000t, driven by the increasing adoption of LEDs worldwide as well as the demand for HPA by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to serve the surging electric vehicle market.

Source:
Altech Chemicals Ltd

Contact:

Corporate
Iggy Tan
Managing Director
Altech Chemicals Limited
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Email: [e-mail] 

Shane Volk
Company Secretary
Altech Chemicals Limited
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Email: [e-mail]

Investor Relations (Europe)
Kai Hoffmann
Soar Financial Partners
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Email: [e-mail]