BioAmber Secures CAD$20 Million Loan for Sarnia Plant

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, June 23, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - BioAmber Inc. (NYSE: BIOA), an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals, today announced that its Canadian subsidiary BioAmber Sarnia Inc., a joint venture with Mitsui & Co., has secured a CAD$20 million commercial loan from a financial consortium led by Export Development Canada and including Farm Credit Canada and Comerica Bank.

The CAD$20 million senior secured loan will bear interest at an initial rate of 8%, tied to an agreed-on floating rate calculation from disbursement.  The loan's principal will be reimbursed over a period of six and a half years, commencing three (3) months after the completion of the commissioning and start-up phase of the Sarnia plant.

The drawdown on the loan is subject to customary conditions, including continued progress on the construction of the Sarnia plant.  The CAD$20 million will be used to complete the ongoing construction of the Sarnia plant and fund its start up and commissioning.

When completed in early 2015, the Sarnia plant will be the world's largest bio-based succinic acid production facility.  The plant will convert Canadian agricultural products into bio-based succinic acid, a value added building block chemical that is used in a wide variety of everyday products.  BioAmber projects that over 90% of the 30,000 MT annual capacity will be exported.

About BioAmber

BioAmber (NYSE:BIOA) is an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals. Its proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology and chemical catalysts to convert renewable feedstock into sustainable chemicals for use in a wide variety of everyday products including plastics, resins, food additives and personal care products. For more information visit www.bio-amber.com

About Export Development Canada

EDC is Canada's trade finance agency, providing financing and insurance solutions locally and around the world to help Canadian companies of any size respond to international business opportunities. As a profitable Crown corporation that operates on commercial principles, EDC works together with private and public-sector financial institutions to create greater capacity for Canadian companies to engage in trade and investment.

About Farm Credit Canada

FCC is Canada's leading agriculture lender, with a healthy portfolio of more than $26 billion and 20 consecutive years of portfolio growth. FCC is strong and stable – committed to serving the industry through all cycles, and to being socially and environmentally responsible. FCC provides financing, insurance, software, learning programs and other business services to producers, agribusinesses and agri-food operations. Employees understand agriculture and are committed to the success of customers and the industry. With FCC in the market, producers benefit, agriculture benefits, rural Canada benefits and so do all Canadians. For more information, visit www.fcc.ca.  

About Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank's Technology and Life Sciences Division is one of the United States' leading technology banking practices, offering a wide range of financial services tailored to corporate customers, entrepreneurs and professionals. Veteran bankers provide credit and financial services and products to young, growing, professionally backed technology and life sciences companies, as well as their more mature counterparts. The Technology and Life Sciences Division serves all major U.S. technology centers from offices coast-to-coast and its headquarters in Palo Alto, California. Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company that is among the 25 largest U.S. banking companies. For more information, visit www.comerica.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to the completion of our planned facility and the disbursement of the loan. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "seek," "will," "may" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond BioAmber's control. BioAmber's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in BioAmber's most recent registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other documents that may be filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: the Company's limited operating history, the inability of the Company to execute on its manufacturing expansion strategy, including the construction of our planned facility in Sarnia, Ontario, the inability of the Company to comply with milestone covenants contained in certain of its agreements, the Company's limited sales of bio-succinic acid to date, the Company's inability to obtain additional financing, the Company's inability to leverage its bio-succinic acid technology to develop and commercialize derivatives of bio-succinic acid and other bio-based building block chemicals, and a decrease in demand for bio-succinic acid, bio-based 1,4 BDO and other bio-succinic acid derivatives. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur and the timing of events and circumstances and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: BioAmber Inc.

BioAmber Investor Contact, Michael Rice, LifeSci Advisors, 250 West 55th Street Suite 16B, New York, NY 10019, 646-597-6979, [email protected]