Beijing Shougang Lanzatech Technology on Friday said it will again delay its Hong Kong initial public offering and did not provide a new timetable due to a dispute with a joint venture (JV) partner.
The company, which built the world’s first large-scale industrial fermentation facility in 2018 that used exhaust gases from steel mills to make ethanol and microbial protein, was scheduled to announce the final subscription price for its shares on Tuesday. On Monday, it postponed it by a week.
“As a result of the further postponement of the global [shares] offering and the listing, the date for publication of such announcement will be postponed,” it said, citing a dispute with partner Hainan Jiyuan Junyi Biotechnology.
Ethanol is a low-carbon motor fuel and microbial protein is a base material for animal feed.
Shougang Lanzatech, controlled by state-owned steel maker Shougang Group, said it was “assessing an updated timetable”.
Hainan Jiyuan owned 42 per cent of one of Shougang Lanzatech’s manufacturing subsidiaries, which accounted for 21 per cent of Shougang Lanzatech’s sales. Hainan Jiyuan was dissatisfied with the return on its investment and wanted to end it, Shougang Lanzatech said on Monday.
Hainan Jiyuan’s sister firm, Jiyuan Metallurgical, supplies gas from industrial waste to the JV’s plant.
