French insect ag pioneer Ÿnsect has requested to enter a judicial recovery procedure with the Evry Commercial Court in France after failing to secure financing under its safeguard plan.
Ÿnsect, which filed a safeguard plan with a commercial court last September, issued a tender offer on January 17 to determine interest from potential investors or acquirers by February 17.
However, it has been “unable to reach an agreement on the financing of a safeguard plan, despite the extensive negotiations and work that took place,” a spokesman told AgFunderNews this morning.
“Under these conditions and taking into account the company’s cash flow shortage… the presentation of a backup plan now appears clearly impossible. Consequently, a request for conversion of the safeguard procedure into a judicial recovery procedure was filed with the Evry Commercial Court in order to be able to initiate a call for tenders for a takeover into a transfer plan as soon as possible.”
He added: “The judicial recovery procedure, and the call for tenders for the sale plan which will be initiated there, will make it possible to offer potential buyers who have expressed signs of interest, as well as any new ones, a different legal framework adapted to a rapid resumption of the company’s activities. Ÿnsect thus remains under the protection of the Evry Commercial Court and is actively seeking one or more buyers as part of a sale plan. Candidate buyers are invited to contact the judicial administrator in order to be able to access the data room.”
Founded in 2011 by Antoine Hubert and Alexis Angot, Ÿnsect has raised almost $580 million over the past 13 years from investors including Astanor, BPI France, Crédit Agricole, Upfront, and Robert Downey Jr.’s Footprint Coalition.
The firm, which honed its mealworm farming process at a pilot facility in Dole, France, started protein production at a large-scale facility in Amiens, France, last summer, but explained last month that it needed to secure more funding to get to a scale whereby it could “ensure profitability.”
According to the tender offer, Ÿnsect’s revenue was €5.8 million ($6 million) in 2023 with third-party liabilities of approximately €104 million ($108 million) excluding bonds. “The figures for 2024 are not consolidated for the moment,” said the spokesman.
The company, which has 214 employees at facilities in Amiens, Dôle, Evry, and Paris, said it needed to secure about €130 million ($135 million), excluding liabilities, to achieve target revenues of €131 million ($137 million) in 2028.
Further reading:
Insect ag pioneer Ÿnsect ‘exploring all possible options, including a 3rd-party takeover,’ Agronutris files safeguard plan with court
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Author Elaine Watson
