Yorkville Advisers LLC will invest up to $5 million in Galten Biodiesel Ltd. (TASE: GLTN) through a Standby Equity Purchase Agreement (SEPA) by Yorkville unit YA Global Investments LP. Galten is developing biodiesel from vegetable oil produced by jatropha, a nonedible, perennial crop.
Galten chairman Doron Levi said, "We are proud to sign this agreement at a time when it is almost impossible to raise capital in the financial markets. This demonstrates the attractiveness and potential of the biodiesel industry. For us, this investment agreement is a jump forward, enabling us to speed up production of biodiesel and fulfill the company's business potential. With this funding, we can now expand our jatropha crop to reach commercial production."
Government support for biodiesel has resulted in growing investment in the industry, because of biodiesel's advantages over oil-based diesel. For example, the EU has adopted the Kyoto Protocols, turning them into a binding directive for fuel crops to account for 20% of total fuels by 2020. The biofuel market is projected to grow from $7 billion today to $60 billion in 2020.
Earlier this week, Galten announced that it was in talks on a long-term strategic agreement with Poland's Wratislavia-Bio Ltd., which will buy 1,200 tons a month of biodiesel. An agreement has an annual potential of up to $12 million for Galten.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 1, 2012
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