Cathay Industrial Biotech files for IPO

As mentioned in the blog yesterday, Shanghai, China-based bio-butanol producer Cathay Industrial Biotech filed an S-1 form last week with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hoping to raise up to $200m in an initial public offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

I can't explain the company's corporate structure but maybe this diagram will help:

Cathay Industrial Bio currently produces corn-based n-butanol for chemical applications at its 100,000 tonnes/year biorefinery in Jilin Province, China. The facility, which uses the acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation route, started production in 2009 of about 65-70% butanol, 20-25% acetone and 5-10% ethanol.

The company claimed to be the world's largest bio-butanol producer based on active production capacity this year (backed by report from consulting firm CMAI). It's n-butanol is currently used as an industrial solvent and as a chemical intermediates for the production of paints, resins, coatings, plasticizers, herbicides, pharmaceuticals and food grade extractants.

The blog also previously mentioned the company's bio-dibasic and dicarboxylic acid businesses via fermentation of paraffins.

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