Monday, September 19, 2011

Mascoma files for $100M IPO

By James M. Connolly

Renewable fuels company Mascoma Corp. of Lebanon, N.H., has announced plans for an initial public offering valued at up to $100 million.

The company, which has developed a chemical platform to convert biomass into fuel, filed an S-1 notification form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, reporting that it will offer just over 54 million shares of common stock.

Mascoma said its initial target market for its yeast-based technology, known as Mascoma Grain Technology, is the corn ethanol industry. The company also plans to develop commercial-scale facilities to convert hardwood feedstocks into cellulosic ethanol using that technology, which originated at Dartmouth College.

The S-1 form lists Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank and Credit Suisse as underwriters. The filing also breaks down Mascoma’s financial performance, listing 2010 revenue of $15.49 million, which was almost double the 2009 revenue of $8.4 million. For the first six months of 2011, the company listed revenue of $6.6 million, up from $5.7 million in the first half of 2010.

However, it also listed net losses of $25.9 million in 2010, down from $34 million in 2009, and $14.5 million for the first half of 2011. The company, founded in 2005, said it has about $12 million in cash and a total of $28.7 million in assets.

In addition, most of Mascoma’s revenue still comes from government grants, including funds from the  U.S. Department of Energy and the states of New York and Michigan, where it plans to build a hardwood facility.

In August, the company reported a $50 million debt financing. Its backers include SunOpta Inc., Khosla Ventures, Flagship Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Blackrock, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, Pinnacle Ventures, General Motors Ventures, and energy companies Marathon Oil and Valero.