09.02.2012

Linde purchases CHOREN technology

The insolvency administrator of CHOREN Industries GmbH, Bruno M. Kübler, has sold the company's main business segment, its innovative biomass gasification technology, to Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH.

Freiberg, Germany, February 9, 2012 – Linde Engineering Dresden will further develop the CHOREN Carbo-V® technology used to produce synthetic gas. Synthetic gas produced with this method can be used to produce second-generation biofuels for industrial applications, among other things. Linde Engineering Dresden is part of the Linde Group and ranks among the world's leading companies for the planning, delivery and construction of chemical, gas, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals plants. The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.

“The sale of this very important and promising division to Linde is a success for the creditors," Kübler pointed out following the signature of the sale agreement. "At the same time, Carbo-V® technology has now been taken over by the most qualified partner you can imagine in the world market. So there is a genuine chance that the Carbo-V® technology developed by CHOREN will become marketable."

The sale to Linde Engineering Dresden was preceded by an investor process that lasted several months. Kübler had contacted more than 200 potential investors worldwide. Prospective investors then performed extensive examinations of the company and the technology. As it turned out, however, none of the potential buyers was prepared to make the investments it would have taken to launch industrial operations at the demonstration plant for synthetic gas (also known as the "Beta Plant") in Freiberg.

The approx. 65 remaining members of staff at CHOREN will initially retain their jobs. Consultations with investors about other portions of the CHOREN Group, the Beta Plant in particular, are continuing. The sale process is being overseen by the Swiss global M&A consulting firm of Rasenberger Toschek AG.

"CHOREN Components GmbH", the group's component-production operation, was already sold to an investor in October 2011. The company is now successfully doing business as "TAF Thermische Apparatebau Freiberg GmbH".

"CHOREN Industries GmbH", headquartered in Freiberg (in Saxony, Germany) – a pioneer in the development of biofuel technologies – had launched insolvency proceedings in early July 2011, along with its two German subsidiaries. Insolvency administrators for the three companies are Bruno Kübler (CHOREN Industries GmbH), Bettina Breitenbücher (CHOREN Fuel Freiberg GmbH & Co. KG) and Tim Brune (CHOREN Components GmbH), all of the nationwide KÜBLER law firm. The insolvency was brought about as a result of financing difficulties associated with the commissioning of the synthetic-gas demonstration plant.

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