Bionas Group plans to raise US$807.5 million in public offering

Bionas Group, a Malayasian biofuel firm, will take its subsidiary to an initial public offering. The company hopes to raise US$807.5 million in this IPO. Barclays Bank will be handling the IPO. The firm’s unit will list on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) by the middle of 2011, according to Chief Executive Safi ‘e Jaffri. The move is seen as a way to tap into the growing demand for alternative fuels in Europe. Bionas Group has been contract farming jatropha in Malaysia’s Borneo for three years. The money from the IPO will be used to extend jatropha plantings in Africa. Jatropha can be grown on non-arable land to produce biofuel. It could be grown on non-farmland in Africa, Asia and Latin America, though experts believe that the plant does depend on chemical additives and fertile soils to grow. (February 21, 2011)