  PureCircle raises £40 mln for expansion as it expects Reb A sweetener demand to soar
Reported by Proactive Investors on Wednesday, 18 November 2009 (on November 18, 2009)
|
PureCircle Ltd (AIM: PURE) said it raised £40 million before expenses, approximately US$67 million, via the placing of 20 million new shares at £2 each, and plans to use the money to position the company for the increasing demand it expects over the coming years for its natural zero-calorie sweetener Rebaudioside A. The company’s flagship product is derived from the Stevia Rebaudiana plant, which is native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America.Since the US Food and Drug Administration clearance for high purity Reb A to be used as a food and beverage ingredient was granted in December 2008, a range of stevia-sweetened products have been launched in the US and performed well, securing strong sales. For example, stevia-sweetened tabletop products have secured 10 percent of the US tabletop sweetener market. Similarly, sales of PepsiCo's SoBe Lifewater beverage flavours sweetened with Reb A, which were launched in 2009, are outperforming the category, PureCircle said, citing research data.“With continuing pressure for the reduction of calories in food and beverages, PureCircle's discussions with both current and potential clients have led to the expectation that such clients are planning launches of stevia-sweetened products and line extensions in a wider range and larger size in 2010 and 2011,” it said.It plans to use US$40 million of the new funds to expand and further strengthen the supply chain and working capital and US$25 million for marketing and branding initiatives with a view to establishing a strong ingredient brand closely associated with the company.PureCircle plans to accelerate the expansion of its production capacity, initially with a new stevia extraction facility in Paraguay, with work expected to start early in FY 2011. In addition the Company intends to invest further in proprietary leaf development and expansion as part of its global leaf diversification programme.In July 2009, it announced completion of the major expansion of its extraction plant complex in Jiangxi province, south eastern China, which quadrupled Stevia extract capacity from 1,000 metric tonnes per annum to 4,000 tonnes. The doubling of the group's annual high purity Reb A refining capacity from 1,000 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes at its refinery in Malaysia is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
Links: Full news story
|
|
|
|
|
| Recent related news |
| |
VentureBeat
2 days ago - Technology | Gaikai, the games on demand company founded by game veteran David Perry, has lined up financing for... |
Proactive Investors
2 days ago - Business | Air Partner (AIP, 402.5p, £41.29m) Interims to January 2010 saw group sales down 7% to £95.0m... |
Proactive Investors
2 days ago - Business | NF Energy Saving Corporation (OTCBB: NFEC) anticipates its 2009 full year revenues to rise 28%... |
Miami Herald
2 days ago - Business | Chip maker Microchip Technology Inc. said Monday that it now expects fiscal fourth-quarter results to...Also reported by •Seattle Times |
Proactive Investors
3 days ago - Business | During a speech last week, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China’s central bank, The People’s Bank of... |
| |
Proactive Investors
5 days ago - Business | Crude prices rallied this week before falling sharply late Friday on mixed US economic data. Oil got... |
Proactive Investors
5 days ago - Business | Crude prices rallied this week before falling sharply late Friday on mixed US economic data. Oil got... |
Proactive Investors
5 days ago - Business | Crude prices rallied this week before falling sharply late Friday on mixed US economic data. Oil got... |
Proactive Investors
5 days ago - Business | Crude prices rallied this week before falling sharply late Friday on mixed US economic data. Oil got... |
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago - Europe | The International Energy Agency said it expects world oil demand in 2010 to resume trend growth seen... |
| |
|
|
|
Facebook
E-mail
Twitter
Mixx
StumbleUpon
FriendFeed
Tweet the News!
Select Region >
Top News RSS Feed | News for my Website | Archive | Advertise | Help | Enquiries | Bookmark this site | 
U.S. version
