VANCOUVER, May 27, 2013 /CNW/ - Lignol Energy Corporation
(TSXV: LEC) ("LEC" or "the Company"), a leading technology company
in the advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals sectors, today
announced that it has agreed to acquire an additional 2.67 million
shares of Territory Biofuels Limited ("TBF") for A$1 million under a TBF private placement
offering transaction, which also provides for the further issuance
of approximately 0.25 million shares of TBF to other shareholders
of TBF. Upon completion, LEC will become the majority shareholder
with approximately 56% of the issued shares of TBF and 60% on a
fully diluted basis.
"We are excited to be working with the TBF team
and adding our support as the majority shareholder in planning the
re-start of the Darwin refinery", said Ross
MacLachlan, CEO and Chairman of LEC. "Our goal is to have
the refinery come back on line in Q4 2013, and incorporate upgrades
to process lower cost feedstocks that will enhance profitability in
2014. This is an important milestone for our company and
represents the potential for us to accelerate our transition to
commercial operations with a majority equity stake in a world scale
biofuels project."
At full capacity the Darwin refinery will be
capable of producing up to 150 million litres of biodiesel per
year. The facility also includes the only glycerine refinery
in Australia. Crude
glycerine is a bi-product waste stream of most biodiesel plants
which can be upgraded to a refined form of glycerine with
attractive margins and financial returns.
As a result of LEC's achievement in becoming the
majority shareholder, Difference Capital Funding Inc. ("DCF") has
agreed to assist LEC in the funding this investment by increasing
the existing line of credit established earlier this year by
$1 million to $6 million under similar terms to the existing
facility.
About Territory Biofuels Limited ("TBF")
TBF owns a large scale biorefining facility
located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, which includes a Lurgi designed
biodiesel plant and the only glycerine refinery in Australia. The facility was commissioned
in 2008 at a cost of A$80 million,
along with 38 million litres of related tankage, now leased by
TBF. The biodiesel plant is the largest in Australia with a maximum rated capacity of 150
million litres per year. Originally built to run on
food-grade vegetable oil, the plant was shut down in 2009 due to
feedstock constraints. TBF is in the process of raising funds
to restart the existing facility utilizing feedstocks such as
tallow and used cooking oil and then plans to integrate new
feedstock pre-treatment technologies and catalysts to process a
broader range of feedstocks such as lower quality tallow and palm
sludge oil; a waste product from palm oil mill extraction. TBF has
established trading relationships with its shipping, off-take and
feedstock partners which it expects will allow it to profitably
start up and operate the facility. Two LEC executive officers
and directors, Mr. Ross MacLachlan
and Mr. Stephen Morris have been
appointed directors of TBF with Mr. MacLachlan also having assumed
the role of Chairman of TBF.
About Lignol Energy Corporation
("LEC")
LEC (TSXV: LEC) owns 100% of the issued and
voting shares of Lignol Innovations Ltd. ("LIL"). LEC is the
majority shareholder of TBF and also owns 21.4% of the largest
producer of biodiesel in Australia, Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd.
(ASX: ARW) ("ARW"). LEC also intends to invest in, or
otherwise obtain, equity interests in energy related projects which
have synergies with the Company and have the potential to generate
near term cash flow.
LIL is a leading technology company in the
advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals sector undertaking the
development of biorefining technologies for the production of
advanced biofuels, including fuel-grade ethanol, and other
renewable chemicals from non-food cellulosic biomass feedstocks.
LIL's modified solvent based pre-treatment technology facilitates
the rapid, high-yield conversion of cellulose to ethanol and the
production of value-added biochemical co-products, including high
purity HP-LTM lignin. HP-LTM lignin
represents a new class of high purity lignin extractives (and their
subsequent derivatives) which can be engineered to meet the
chemical properties and functional requirements of a range of
industrial applications that until now has not been possible with
traditional lignin by-products generated from other processes. LIL
is executing on its development plan through strategic partnerships
to further develop and integrate its core technologies on a
commercial scale. For more information please visit Lignol's
website at www.lignol.ca.
Caution concerning forward-looking
statements:
Certain statements contained in this document
may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of
applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or
information include, without limitation, statements or information
about LEC's ability to fund the investment in additional shares of
TBF, TBF's ability to repay the loan of A$500,000 the Company had previously provided to
TBF, TBF's ability to finance, restart and profitably operate its
150 million litre per year biodiesel plant and glycerine refinery,
TBF's ability to successfully operate the Darwin facility and to
generate revenues and cash flow, TBF's ability to obtain US EPA
approval, TBF's ability to work with strong commercial partnerships
and to become a major regional player in the biodiesel market in
the Pacific Rim, TBF's ability to
integrate new pretreatment technologies and catalysts to facilitate
the processing of a broad range of lower cost feedstocks, the
successful outcome of projects undertaken under the Technology
Collaboration Agreement between LEC and TBF, LEC's ability to
continue as a going concern and to raise additional financing to
fund the operations of LEC and LIL and to support the financing
requirements of TBF, DCF's ability to provide an additional
$1 million in funding under the
increased line of credit, LEC's ability to invest in, or otherwise
obtain, equity interests in energy related projects which have
technical and commercial synergies with the Company and which have
the potential to generate future dividends and near term cash flow,
the development status of LIL's fully integrated pilot scale
biorefinery in Burnaby, British
Columbia, the planning and development of a commercial
plant, LIL's ability to complete project deliverables which are
funded in part by government agencies, obtaining strategic
partnership investments and government funding for initial
commercial projects. Often, but not always, forward looking
statements or information can be identified by the use of words
such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected",
"budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends",
"anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations
of such words and phrases or words and phrases that state or
indicate that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
Such statements or information reflect LEC's
current views with respect to future events and are subject to
certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without
limitation, our ability to establish the validity of LIL's
technology at the fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant scale,
LIL's ability to satisfy the conditions of existing government
grants and to obtain new additional grants, our ability to continue
to finance our operations and to finance and complete the
development of a commercial project, LIL's ability to work with
Novozymes to produce cellulosic ethanol at production costs
competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol, LIL's ability to
develop products and to obtain off-take agreements, LIL's ability
to obtain requisite regulatory approvals and its ability to enter
into agreements with strategic partners on terms acceptable to us,
LEC's ability to influence the strategy, operations and financial
performance of TBF or of ARW respectively the reliance on
publically available information of ARW in the Company's evaluation
of its acquisition of shares in ARW, the potential inability to
divest the ARW ordinary shares due to modest trading volumes and
the inability to divest the TBF ordinary shares, the cost of any
future ARW capital investment, the fluctuation of biodiesel and
feedstock prices on ARW and TBF, the effect on ARW and TBF of
changes in government policy relating to the environment, and
incentives for renewable fuels, the ability of ARW and TBF to
generate cash flow and pay dividends, and the ability of ARW and
TBF to market their products overseas and to meet relevant
regulatory requirements. Many factors could cause LEC's actual
results, performance or achievements to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements that may be
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or
information, including among other things, the technological
challenges that remain to be surpassed in obtaining the necessary
operating data from LIL's fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant
that is required prior to completing the next scale-up of the
technology, financial market conditions which will impact our
ability to finance our operations and to finance the construction
and operation of a commercial plant, the price of gasoline and
demand for ethanol, the market pricing and demand for renewable
chemicals, risks relating to the protection of LIL's core
technology from infringement and those risk factors which are
discussed elsewhere in documents that LEC files from time to time
with securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions
underlying the forward-looking statements or information prove
incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described
herein as intended planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or
expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward looking statements and information whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral
forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or
persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
SOURCE Lignol Energy Corporation