Origin Materials Inc., a carbon negative materials company, said it has completed its previously announced business combination with Artius Acquisition Inc., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
The transaction was unanimously approved by Artius’ board of directors and was approved at a special general meeting of Artius shareholders on June 23. In connection with the closing, Artius changed its name to Origin Materials Inc.
Founded in 2008, Origin has a mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials. Origin’s patented drop-in technology, economics and carbon impact are supported by a growing list of major global customers and investors. Origin’s technology has been further supported by an ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessment that concluded Origin’s products are expected to be carbon negative when produced at commercial scale.
Origin Materials’ patented technology platform, which turns low-cost, plentiful, sustainable wood residues into carbon negative materials, can help revolutionize the production of a wide range of end products, including clothing, textiles, plastics, packaging, car parts, tires, carpeting and toys with an estimate $1 trillion addressable market. In addition, Origin Materials’ technology platform is expected to provide stable pricing largely decoupled from the petroleum supply chain that is exposed to more volatility than supply chains based on sustainable wood residues.
Since announcing the business combination with Artius on Feb. 17, Origin Materials has increased its customer demand from signed offtake agreements and capacity reservations by 90 percent to $1.9 billion from the $1 billion previously disclosed. This increase also greatly expanded the company’s end markets beyond its Fortune Global 500 CPG customers Danone, Nestlé Waters and PepsiCo to include industrial and apparel textiles, automotive parts, insulating foams and other applications.
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The company also implemented a strategic alliance with Palantir Technologies this month to accelerate the world’s transition to net zero carbon focused on decarbonizing the global materials supply chain and launched Net Zero Automotive program with Ford Motor Company focused on industrializing new materials to drive decarbonization in the automotive industry.
In April, it struck a strategic alliance with PrimaLoft to develop carbon negative insulating fiber for outdoor gear, bedding and apparel.
John Bissell, co-ounder and co-CEO of Origin Materials, said the transaction will further accelerate the company’s growth and mission of enabling the world’s transition to sustainable, carbon negative materials.
“We believe our breakthrough technology provides countless companies that make physical products with the ability to drastically reduce their emissions in a cost-effective manner,” Bissell said.
Boon Sim, CEO of Artius, said the company pursued a merger with Origin Materials because it wanted to make sure that it invested in a company with technology that has been tested and validated.
“We conducted significant due diligence evaluating their technology and their expanded customer base is further validation of their technology’s ability to help the world transition to net zero carbon,” Sim said. “With their breakthrough technology and significant customer base, we are highly confident in Origin’s ability to disrupt the materials supply chain and enable their customers’ decarbonization goals, which we believe will deliver significant long-term shareholder value.”
The transaction previously valued at approximately $1 billion is supported by existing and new investors, including Danone, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and AECI, as well as certain funds and accounts managed by Sylebra Capital, Senator Investment Group, Electron Capital Partners, BNP Paribas AM Energy Transition Fund and affiliates of Apollo. Origin Materials will use the proceeds to fund the company’s planned growth, including the completion and commissioning of its first commercial plant, which is expected to be operational in 2022, and of its second commercial plant, which is expected to be operational in 2025.