Dundalk-based Cellulac buy UK rival for €1m

Cellulac will be based at the former Harp Lager brewery, now the Great Northern Distillery

Dundalk-based biochemical company Cellulac has bought a UK rival in a deal believed to be worth about €1m.

The company, Aer Sustainable Energy, specialises in manufacturing bio-based oils, proteins and other valuable products from algae biomass.

Celluac, which is headed up by Gerry Brandon, said in a statement that the purchase would add to the company’s production capabilities in the bioplastic ingredients and biochemical sectors by adding “cosmetics and aviation biofuel to the core institutional knowledge of the Cellulac technology platform”.

Cellulac recently announced it is to invest €25m to redevelop its plant in Dundalk in the second phase of a multi-year upgrade.

The company is leasing a 6.8-acre site from John Teeling’s Irish Whiskey Company at what is now the Great Northern Distillery. Cellulac is to retrofit the facility for the production of barrel plastics.

Cellulac to invest €25m in Dundalk facility

Cellulac will be based at the former Harp Lager brewery, now the Great Northern Distillery

Irish biotechnology firm Cellulac is to invest €27m into redeveloping its plant in Dundalk over the course of the next three years.

The company is leasing a 6.8-acre site from John Teeling’s Irish Whiskey Company at what is now the Great Northern Distillery. Cellulac is to retrofit the facility for the production of barrel plastics.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Cellulac chief executive Gerry Brandon said that the company was set to begin phase one of the revamp in the first quarter of 2016, which he estimates will cost roughly €2m.

The second phase, set to commence in 2017, is estimated to cost €25m.

Mr Brandon said that the first phase will allow the firm to ramp up production at the facility initially to 20,000 tonnes a year of an acid used to produce biodegradable plastics for export.

He said that construction of the second phase was set to begin at the end of 2017 and run into 2018, and said that by the time it was completed the plant will be producing approximately 100,000 tonnes a year.

He added that the retrofit would add about 30 jobs to the firm, which employs 19 people.

He said: “Most jobs will be created in phase one, where there will be about 36 new jobs. During phase two there will probably be work for another 50 people in construction and then production in the plant will become automated, we will have just under 50 people working full-time.”

He said that in total in equity and grants the firm has received roughly €16m so far.

He added that the company would look at its funding options within the next 12 months.

Cellulac recently signed a signed a five-year partnership deal with Dutch waste manager Pharmafilter worth €35m.

Source: Irish Independent