Hydrogen Utopia International PLC on Monday said it is considering a reverse takeover worth around £500 million.
The company’s shares jumped 27% to 10.90 pence each on Monday morning in London. It has a market capitalisation of around £43.6 million.
The London-based operator of facilities that turn non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other carbon-free fuels said it signed heads of terms regarding a potential acquisition via reverse takeover of a ‘substantial and profitable’ international bio-energy firm which is involved in the production and business of biofuels and its bio-products.
Hydrogen Utopia said the unnamed company posted a 2022 revenue of €365 million and pretax profit of over €40 million. Hydrogen Utopia is not yet posting revenue, and had reported a pretax loss of £1.5 million for 2022, widened by 44% from £1.0 million in 2021.
It added that the target owns land in Europe with ‘substantially all permits and authorisations required for the rollout of a waste plastic to hydrogen facility’.
The price will be around £500 million, under a structure whereby existing HUI shareholders will receive about 3 pence cash for every cash in HUI that they hold.
The company expects the proposed acquisition ‘to be a strong strategic fit in line with HUI’s objectives and to offer a transformational value-creating opportunity for HUI shareholders.’
Chief Executive Officer Aleksandra Binkowska said: ‘I have explored numerous potential opportunities for the roll out of a waste plastic to hydrogen facility over the last 3 years. I am delighted to announce that my search has now been successful. HUI is to become part of a larger, international bio-fuels specialist, whose mission is aligned with HUI’s. These heads of terms mark the beginning of a journey to build the first plastic waste to hydrogen facility in the world and will enable HUI to deliver on its promise to shareholders.’
It added that there can be no certainty that an acquisition will be completed.
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