By
Greentech Lead Team: KiOR, a renewable fuels company, has
closed a $75 million four-year term loan with a lender group comprised of an
affiliate of Vinod Khosla and two Canadian corporations owned by certain
pension fund clients of Alberta Investment Management (AIMCo).
This follow-on investment in KiOR
reaffirms the continued long-term commitment of two of North America’s most
knowledgeable renewable energy investors in light of KiOR’s on-time and
on-budget execution of its first commercial facility in Columbus, Mississippi;
KiOR’s continued progress toward yield improvements in its R&D program; and
prospects for KiOR’s larger, second facility in Mississippi planned to break
ground after our Columbus facility is fully operational.
“The additional capital de-risks
KiOR’s near-term business plan, decreases KiOR’s dependency on volatile capital
markets and allows additional front-end engineering work on our second
facility,” said Fred Cannon, chief executive officer of KiOR.
KiOR has developed a unique two-step
proprietary technology platform to convert abundant and sustainable non-food
biomass into gasoline, diesel and fuel oil blendstocks.
KiOR’s blendstocks may be
transported using existing distribution networks and are suitable for use in
vehicles on the road today. KiOR strives to help ease dependence on foreign
oil, reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and create high-quality jobs and
economic benefit across rural communities.