World’s largest low-carbon fertiliser plant on start-up - £25.6m equity raise provides ATOME with seat at the top table11 Jun 2026 07:44
BROKER PT OF £1.70
ATOME has completed the arrangement of the $665m debt and equity financing for the flagship Villeta green fertiliser project, which can now progress to FID.
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A £25.6m equity raise at 60p/sh provides the funds to take a 29.8% equity interest in the project, which is expected to generate over $10m per annum in net EBITDA.
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We reiterate our Buy rating and target price of 170p/sh and expect the stock to re-rate on the removal of the market’s uncertainty as the project moves to FID.
£25.6m equity raise provides ATOME with seat at the top table
* ATOME announced FID on the 125MW Phase 1 Villeta green fertiliser project (subject to shareholder approval) following a successful fundraising comprising a placing, subscription and oversubscribed retail offer, which includes a £16m subscription by Casale and the Company’s management team.
* The net proceeds will be used by ATOME, together with $5.8m of its own back-costs, to subscribe for $31m of new preferred shares in the project and provide working capital to advance its pipeline of similar development projects
* The Company will initially be paid an annual management fee of $2.8m during the construction phase and $1m thereafter, as well as initially receive ~$10.5m of annual EBITDA based on the management base case $510/ton CAN sales price.
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After the preferred shareholders (12.6% WI) recover a 15% return on their $245m equity investment, ATOME is entitled to 100% of the revenues until it achieves a 15% IRR on the $60m carried value of its common shares, then 29.8% thereafter.
125MW Villeta Phase 1 project FID to deliver first production in 2029
* ATOME has now completed the funding arrangement for the $665m flagship 125MW Villeta green fertiliser project, which consists of $245m in equity funding and $420m in debt funding from leading international financial institutions.
* The project will be constructed by Casale under a $465m fixed-price, lump sum turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract, with initial production start-up in 3Q29 and ramp-up to full capacity targeted in 4Q29.
* The 260,000 tonne-per-year Villeta project is expected to be the world’s largest low-carbon fertiliser plant on start-up, with Yara committed to offtake 100% of output at a guaranteed floor price with a premium upside sharing mechanism.
Green transition success - the right product from the right project at the right time
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