Heiq Regulatory News (HEIQ)

RNS Reach

06 July 2023

HeiQ Plc

("HeiQ" or "the Company")

MAS Holdings invests in HeiQ AeoniQ

HeiQ Plc (LSE: HEIQ), a leading company in materials innovation, announces that MAS Holdings ("MAS"), a global apparel & textile manufacturing and tech conglomerate headquartered in Sri Lanka, and the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with approximately USD2 billion in turnover, through MAS' affiliate company, MAS Regent Pte Ltd., has secured a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ GmbH, a subsidiary of HeiQ Group that will produce HeiQ AeoniQ™, the Company's climate-positive cellulosic yarn.

With this US$2.5 million investment (US$1.5 million with the contract signature, and US$1 million upon reaching a mutually agreed milestone), MAS becomes the first manufacturer to partner with HeiQ AeoniQ™ in their efforts to provide a sustainable alternative to polyester and nylon. The investment by MAS is part of its strategy to drive a positive environmental impact. The MAS "Plan for Change" initiative aims to generate 50% of the company's revenue through sustainable products by 2025, revolutionizing the textile industry with a focus on innovation, sustainable sourcing, and pioneering circularity at scale.

HeiQ and MAS firmly believe that rapid scaling is key to facilitating the fast adoption of sustainable, circular technologies such as HeiQ AeoniQ™. Therefore, and subject to the completion of certain milestones and a mutual plan for commercialization, HeiQ and MAS have agreed to a five-year non-binding offtake agreement, pursuant to which the Company expects to receive purchase orders of up to US$100 million over a 5-year period, corresponding to 3,000 tons of HeiQ AeoniQ™ yarn in 2025 and 5,000 tons per year from 2026 to 2029.

Since its launch in Q4 2021 the HeiQ AeoniQ™ technology has been attracting the attention of major global players in the textile and clothing industries.

Using a proprietary manufacturing method, for the first time in history, a cellulosic filament yarn can be made from a wide range of non-valorized feedstock and is able to reproduce comparable performance features of polyester or nylon, while being sustainable and endlessly circular.

The HeiQ AeoniQ™ pilot plant in Austria has been manufacturing this continuous cellulosic filament yarn since Q3 2022, with an annual capacity of up to 100 tons that will be upscaled up to 300 tons per year by the end of 2023.

The scale-up of HeiQ AeoniQ™ production capacity will be driven over the coming years, and it is expected that by early 2026, the first large scale production site with an annual capacity of about 30,000 tons will be commissioned.

Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ Group, said, "Since the beginning, HeiQ has pioneered textile innovation, revolutionizing sustainable functionality and enhancing the lives of billions. With the introduction of HeiQ AeoniQ™, we solidify our unwavering commitment to disrupting the textile industry -a sector that has long held the dubious distinction of being the world's second-largest polluter. MAS' investment and offtake agreement serves as a resounding endorsement of HeiQ AeoniQ™, and is a natural result of the trust built over a decade that HeiQ and MAS have been doing business together."

Group Chief Executive Officer of MAS Holdings, Suren Fernando adds, "MAS was built on the foundational belief of doing the right thing. As a global organization nurturing over 100,000 individuals, we are convinced of our responsibility to drive positive change within the apparel industry through sustainable product solutions. We believe that this investment is an important step in our efforts to reshape our industry by driving innovation, collaboration, and scale. With HeiQ AeoniQ™ as a key catalyst, we are poised to pave the way for a more sustainable future."

Polyester and nylon, two oil-based fibers, virtually non-recyclable, account for about 70% of all the global textile production, they take between 350 to 1000 years to degrade in nature, are currently close loop recycled at less than 1%, and are at the origin of 35% of the microplastics that can be found in today's oceans. HeiQ AeoniQ™ was innovated and is being hyper-scaled up to change this course of action.

For further information, please contact:

About HeiQ

HeiQ is a Swiss-based international company that innovates pioneering and differentiating materials in partnership with established global brands. We bridge the academic and commercial worlds to conceive performance-enhancing materials and technologies, working with aligned brands to research, manufacture and bring products to market, aiming for lab to consumer in months. Our goal is to improve the lives of billions by innovating the materials that go into everyday products, making them more hygienic, comfortable, protective, and sustainable.

Our strong IP portfolio positions us as an innovation leader for niche, premium and high-margin products in the textile chemicals, man-made fibers, paints and coatings, antimicrobial plastics, probiotics and household cleaner markets. We have also expanded into healthcare facilities, probiotic cleaning, and hygiene coatings markets to help make hospitals and healthcare environments more hygienic.

We have developed over 200 technologies in partnership with 300 major brands. With a substantial research and development pipeline, including key technology development projects HeiQ AeoniQ, HeiQ ECOS, HeiQ GrapheneX, and HeiQ Synbio, HeiQ aims to deliver shareholder value through sales growth and entry into new lucrative markets through disruptive innovation and M&A.

We have built a strong reputation for ESG & sustainable innovation, having won multiple awards including the Swiss Technology Award twice and the Swiss Environmental Award. Under experienced leadership, we are committed to driving our profit in close connection with people and the planet. For more information, please visit www.heiq.com.