VitAg Corporation, a specialty fertilizer company, announced today that the Company and its affiliates recently closed equity and debt financing of more than $110 million which will be used in part to construct a biosolids-to-fertilizer facility in Zellwood, Florida.
The financings consist of (i) an equity investment led by TPG Alternative and Renewable Technologies (ART), who is now the largest shareholder in the Company; (ii) a $64 million offering of 22-year tax-exempt bonds through the Orange County Industrial Finance Authority led by Citigroup Global Markets; and (iii) a credit facility from an affiliate of Tennenbaum Capital Partners. In addition to TPG ART, equity investors include strategic investors Agro-Iron, whose businesses include the production of iron micronutrients, and Shrieve Chemical, a supplier of industrial chemicals, active in the fertilizer industry. Other investors include Florida-based agricultural companies and individual investors. No additional terms were disclosed.
The new facility, to be located approximately 23 miles northwest of Orlando, is expected to produce slow release organically-enhanced premium fertilizer. The Company’s fertilizer will be produced by combining biosolids, sulfuric acid and ammonia using a proprietary process, and is expected by the Company to be considered an enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF), as a significant portion of its nutrients are expected to be released over an extended period. This will allow the Company to benefit from macro trends favoring more productive fertilizers. In addition, the fertilizer will meet the US EPA’s highest standards for land application of biosolids – Class A and EQ.
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