Bio-On, the former unicorn of bioplastics saved by the Maip group from Turin
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The former Bolognese unicorn of Bio-On bioplastics is preparing to be reborn under the control of the Turin-based Maip group. Three years and three months after the bankruptcy, the Bologna court has in fact signed the counterpart to the composition proposal presented by the Settimo Torinese group which has been dealing with polymers and compounding since 1962 and which, through the subsidiary Haruki Spa – newco created ad hoc for the rescue operation – has put 20 million euros on the plate to guarantee the execution of the five-year composition plan and the relaunch of the Castel San Pietro company.
Reboot quickly
The commitment of the new owners is to quickly restart in the Castel San Pietro plant (over 40 million investment inaugurated in 2018) the production of PHAs, bioplastics based on polyhydroxyalkanoates, polymers known for centuries, obtained from the fermentation of agricultural waste and 100% natural and biodegradable biomass, but difficult to industrialise, which had led the “intellectual property company” founded in 2007 by Marco Astorri and his partner Guy Cicognani to capture the interest of international investors. So much so that Bio-On managed to reach almost 1.3 billion euro in capitalization in the summer of 2019 (from the 5 euro listing in 2014, the year of its debut at Aim to over 70 euro), shortly before tumbled under the accusations of market manipulation and false accounting moved by the Quintessential fund and resulting in the “Plastic Bubble” investigation.
Maip: cutting-edge technologies from Bio-On
«The technologies developed by Bio-On between 2008 and 2019 – declares the Maip group – are still today at the forefront of the world. Our goal is to produce in Italy the purest and most controlled PHA existing on the world market, completely eliminating the problem of polluting microplastics. The synergy between the Maip and Bio-On research centers will allow for the rapid introduction on the market of over 500 polyhydroxyalkanoate-based formulations, including base powders and “tailor-made” compounds, in addition to those already present in the assets developed by Bio-On”.
After the bankruptcy of 2019
After more than three years of provisional exercise (the bankruptcy is in December 2019) and seven failed auction attempts, which started with a purchase base of 95 million euros, the composition proposal presented by the Maip group to acquire all the assets of Bio -On convinced trustees and creditors and yesterday received the official approval of the institutions: «One of the most complex bankruptcies managed in our area is closing – underlines the regional councilor for economic development and green economy, Vincenzo Colla – with the possibility of continuing in the use of relevant systems in the field of eco-sustainable productions, being able to count on high quality skills. We will now evaluate the industrial project with the company and the trade union organizations, which we hope will guarantee an important future for our area. And we thank the Court of Bologna and the bankruptcy trustees (Antonio Gaiani and Luca Mandrioli, ed) for the work carried out which guaranteed industrial continuity in these three years, avoiding dangerous unpacking and social caesuras, and keeping both the plant activity and the great wealth of skills present in Bologna».
The concordat proposal
The composition proposal was made by Haruki, a new vehicle controlled 75% by Maip Compounding (a reality in the hands of the Martini family, 26 million euros in turnover in 2021 and 2 million in profits, with 35 employees) and 25% by Plastotecnica (still controlled by Maip and based in Turin, another 14 million euros in revenues), which was endowed with assets of 20 million euros to complete the relaunch and, in perspective, the definitive acquisition of Bio-On .
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