Meredian March 2014 Newsletter

Paul Pereira
Merger Update and Next Steps
Meredian
Real Estate
Holdings
In February 2014 Meredian BioPlastics and Danimer
Scientific merged to form one of the largest reactive
extrusion and biopolymer facilities in the world. This
entity is the largest manufacturer of PHA
(polyhydroxyalkanoate) and boasts some of the most
sophisticated and advanced biopolymer research
laboratories in the world. A plethora of Fortune 100
companies are currently doing research and
development with Meredian Inc. at different stages of
market launch. These include companies such as BASF,
Henkel, Proctor and Gamble, DART, SC Johnson,
Graphics Packaging, and PepsiCo just to name a few.
innovations captured through our patents. We
continue to make significant strides both in the
lab, our facility and in the market place as we
focus on commercialization.” - Paul Pereira,
Executive Chairman Meredian Inc.
“Innovations lie at the nexus of our competitive
advantage, and we have a plethora of
With the process of the merger almost behind us,
having the most significant part of it successfully
accomplished, and with the unanimous vote of
The past 6 months have been tough and demanding as
we formulated new strategy and direction for both
Danimer and Meredian, injected fiscal control and held
steadfast to a runway and budget with precision of
project execution. The Meredian and Danimer team
have all worked very hard to this common goal.
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MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
MARCH 2014 NEWSLETTER
MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
confidence from the shareholders of both Danimer and
Meredian, we are almost on a steady path to
sustainable growth. The last stage of the merger
completion is the final nod of approval from the USDA,
having met with them at Fort Valley and hearing their
initial thoughts, the USDA believes the merger to be a
good thing and we feel confident that it would be a
matter of awaiting confirmation over the next few
weeks.
Meanwhile the road to ramp up continues as we enter
the commercialization stage and we are working
diligently towards a Henkel commercial contract with
Danimer and a Dart commercial contract with
Meredian. In pursuit of this the Danimer labs are
working feverishly to conclude the final round of testing
of the hot melt adhesive with Henkel, hoping that this
final round meets or surpasses their product
requirements. The Meredian pilot plant ramps up and
works through growing pains to produce the PHA of a
consistent and high quality. With the diligence and the
determination of the team, many obstacles and
challenges have been overcome in the pilot plant and
confidence is very high that our PHA product is of
world-class quality.
Obviously we would have to hit certain key milestones
and the market conditions would have to be correct for
us to engage at the gate of a public offering. Having said
that, we have been courted by a couple of these firms,
as they are confident that Meredian Holdings Group can
successfully come to the IPO platform. We will be
reviewing engagement proposals over the next couple
weeks.
Over the past weeks we have been in discussions at
various levels with the likes of Piper Jaffray, Stephens
Capital, Morgan Stanley, Lindsey Goldberg and Jefferies
as we entertain the possibility of an IPO.
Our new model of building a customer driven plant and
generating R&D revenues from our Client Incubation
Model has won great praise from these investment
bankers as we continue to mitigate risk.
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MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
We have set targets and
milestones for fiscal 2014 and are
confident that we will achieve
them. The main facility has been
blue printed and we have exact
cost of build out with
performance bonds waiting to go
in place guaranteeing time and
cost. Interestingly the same
engineering consortium that
blueprinted our main plant came
back with a commitment for $1.5
million dollars of their money in
common stock in Meredian as a
show of confidence and support
in this project.
There is an opportunity to be a part of a globally “disruptive innovation”. This enablement is providing the basis of a
material technology that is second to none and can parallel the market performances of some great predecessor public
offerings.
Update On Installation of The New Pilot Plant Equipment – 20,000 Liter
Fermentation Vessel
Don Paul / Michael Smith
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purification system and clean steam system are
complete. The steam lines, water lines, boiler and
chilled water lines are 90% complete while the air
spargers and heat exchangers are 50% complete. The
electrical began this past week and will be complete in
30 days while the automation programming is in
process. The included picture was taken from the
canola field at Meredian. These yellow blooms will
soon yield the seed, and eventually the oil that will be
used in the new fermenter are shown in the center of
the picture near the building.
.
During the canola growing season the teammates
at Meredian have gathered leaves each day for
making salads for working lunches and even
dinner on late nights. Greg Calhoun, the farmer
who planted this 1/2 acre plot, mentioned to us
that the canola leaves were very tasty and
nutritious as well. After a few bites we all agree
and now partake weekly. This healthy meal also
supports our company's efforts to lose weight as
part of the annual weight loss competition. We
are almost at the end and Michael Smith and
Dave Mazzei are in the lead.
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MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
Meredian is midway through installation of the 20,000
liter reactor that is located in the pilot plant. This unit
will be the largest fermenter in the world making PHA,
and is six times larger than the one Meredian is
currently operating. This fermenter will produce the
larger samples that are now being asked for by our
customers as we move them through the client
incubation cycle to commercialization. The unit was set
in place with cranes last week with the support
structure. We expect installation to be complete within
the next 60 days. Of the different systems needed to
operate the new reactor, the reverse osmosis water
MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
Henkel and Other Key Customer Next Steps
Blake Lindsey
During the last few weeks we have continued our pace and focus on sales, new business development, conversation &
contact with customers, R&D initiatives and review of how best to make 2014 a record year! At DaniMer we have
successfully demonstrated through multiple trials a new film grade with our friends at PepsiCo who are moving now to
full truckload orders, prior to commercialization. These are exciting developments and confirmation of our R&D success
to enable a customer to advance to scale up trials. Continued trials are being supported successfully in our Energy
Stimulation polymers field with Halliburton for screen coatings and with our partners EnerPol for squeeze frac well
trials. We have just shipped multiple samples to Henkel of the RHMA materials which we believe will allow the two
companies to finalize our readiness plans by March 15 for Q2 trials with multiple larger brand owners who seek to use
our renewable hot melt adhesives. Our aqueous coating trials have also gone well and we are finalizing work to confirm
the food contact OK status of this very exciting technology. We expect to report a commercial launch for this product in
our next newsletter. The coffee ring application we are supporting in an injection molding application are taking off and
our customers are reporting exciting growth. Finally, we understand the pet treat partner is seeing a nice increase in
order volume and we should be positioned well as we enter the summer months for increased demand.
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Our team participated in the ITR or Innovation Take
Root conference in Orlando in February. Dr. Isao Noda
was a key note speaker for the audience of over 300
leaders in the global bioplastics market. We will be
speaking this week in Las Vegas at the Innoplast
Bioplastics conference and are participating in a round
table presentation on biopolymer innovation in
Philadelphia in early May. The Fortune article and
these speaking engagements have allowed the global
brand owner and general consumer a greater
awareness of the capabilities of our companies and
continues to bring new opportunities forward for our
consideration.
The market is "buzzing "about our
companies and we thank you for your support.
Canola – The Farmer’s Perspective
Greg Calhoun
The oil crushing plant is beyond the planning
stage. We are waiting on UGA to finish the
feasibility study. I believe the final test will be
when we get the yield from the canola we are
growing for seed, which will be harvested at the
end of April. The canola is about 20% flowering
now and looks very good. Daniel Caraway says we
need below 90 degree temperatures during
flowering stage. The extended forecast looks
favorable. As an investor and board member I can
say today, “I am proud to be invested in
Meredian.”
“I am proud to be invested in Meredian.”
-
Greg Calhoun
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MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
At Meredian, we are actively supporting our strategy
toward vertical integration in the supply chain with our
efforts to take advantage of our canola seed and canola
oil capabilities. This is being enthusiastically supported
by our strategic customer partners as they agree that
this is a unique and valuable supply chain option that
does not exist elsewhere in the world. We have met
recently with Kimberly Clark, GenPak, Clopay and
Clariant in Bainbridge each with very different needs for
PHA. We have a number of targeted applications that
require film grade PHA and those customers are
working with our pilot plant teams to schedule future
trials. R&D activities are in final stages of discussion
with several brand owners and more information to
follow as we deliver initial samples from our Meredian
PHA pilot plant.
MEREDIAN, INC. NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014
Dr. Noda and Nodax
Isao Noda
Meredian, Inc. is very pleased to announce that Dr. Isao Noda has joined
Meredian as Director of Innovative Solutions. Dr. Noda joins Meredian after a
distinguished career extending over three decades at Procter & Gamble.
Following his retirement from P&G, Dr. Noda accepted a position as an
Adjunct Professor at The University of Delaware which he will maintain. Dr.
Noda is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities in the field of
polymer science including the field of biopolymers known as
polyhydroxyalkanoates. Dr. Noda pioneered development of a specific type of
PHAs known as medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA) and
called NODAX. Meredian recently announced ramp-up of the world’s largest
production facility for mcl-PHAs with its plant located in the southeastern
United States near Bainbridge, GA.
Dr. Noda was born in Tokyo, Japan. He came to the United States in 1969 and
was graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York in 1974 with
B.S. degree in chemical engineering. He also received his M.S. in bioengineering
(1976), as well as M.Phil. (1978) and Ph.D. (1979) in chemical engineering from
Columbia. In 1997 he received D.Sc. degree in chemistry from the University of
Tokyo. Dr. Noda has been repeatedly recognized for his contributions and
currently holds ninety (90) patents granted in the US and the EU, published over
three hundred (300) articles, co-authored three (3) books and received a
number of industry wide awards and recognition for his contributions to these
fields of interest.
Dr. Isao Noda, Director of
Innovative Solutions
Meredian, Inc.
Our April Issue:
The Road to The Main Facility –
Commercial Volume Production by Paul Pereira
My Life Journey In The Commercialization – Of
A Bioplastic – What It Means To Me by Daniel Carraway
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