Biofuel maker Kior considers sale, merger

Jul 10, 2014 - US cellulosic ethanol producer Kior Inc (NASDAQ:KIOR) is mulling over the possibility of selling itself or merging with another company after failing to make a USD-1.88-million (EUR 1.4m) interest payment.

The company is currently assessing various “financing, transactional and strategic alternatives, including a possible merger, restructuring or sale,” it said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Kior has hired Guggenheim Securities LLC to assist it in the process through financial advisory and investment banking services.

The biofuel manufacturer, backed by billionaires Vinod Khosla and Bill Gates, defaulted on the semi-annual USD-1.88-million payment on its USD-75-million loan from the state of Mississippi on June 30. On July 3 it entered into a forbearance agreement with the state. The financing was provided in 2010 to support Kior's biofuel plant project in Columbus, Mississippi. The facility was intended to produce transportation fuel from wood waste and non-food crops. It was shut down in January 2014 for upgrades to the manufacturing process.

Kior still has to repay USD 69.4 million to Mississippi, according to the filing. In October 2013, the firm received financing commitments of USD 100 million from Khosla Ventures and Gates Ventures LLC for the Columbus project.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.733)

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