LanzaTech Global to spin out LanzaX to focus on synthetic biology platform

In Illinois, LanzaTech Global announced its intent to form LanzaX, a business unit dedicated to its wholly-owned synthetic biology platform. LanzaTech intends to spin out LanzaX from its core biorefining business as a joint venture with Tharsis Capital LLC in the coming months. The Company also announced the appointment of Justin Pugh as Interim Chief Financial Officer of LanzaTech, who will succeed Geoff Trukenbrod, effective immediately.

The formation and proposed spin-out of LanzaX, which is comprised of the Company’s proprietary synthetic biology and strain engineering (“synbio”) platform and associated employees, is a strategic move that aims to accelerate project development, while enabling a sharper focus on the growth priorities of the Company’s core biorefining operations, including its Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) projects.

In connection with its formation of LanzaX, LanzaTech has entered into an agreement with Tharsis Capital, a New York-based impact venture capital and advisory firm focused on sustainability, including a specialization related to bioenergy, biomaterials, and chemicals, to assist the Company on the proposed spin-out of LanzaX and to help explore potential investment opportunities for this business unit.

The strategic spin-out will better enable LanzaX to access the necessary capital to accelerate the development of its robust pipeline of existing projects, including initiatives with acetone, isopropanol, and high-value specialty products, with customers spanning global firms, leading brands, and universities. LanzaTech will contribute a number of existing synbio contracts and a portfolio of over 100 demonstrated molecules to LanzaX, which will in turn leverage LanzaTech’s proven commercial expertise in scaling ethanol production to scale new molecules quickly. By its very nature, the production of new molecules using biology will also enable the utilization of existing commercially operating facilities, further accelerating the path to scale for these new chemicals.