D1 Oils and BP set up biofuels joint venture
Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:33am ET

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - British biofuel producer D1 Oils Plc said on Friday it had established a biofuels joint venture with oil giant BP Plc in a deal that gives BP the option to take up a stake in D1.

D1 makes biofuels from the jatropha plant, which it is planting and growing around the world, including in South Africa and India, and has a biofuels refinery in Middlesbrough.

"This is a transforming event for D1," D1 Chief Executive Elliott Mannis said in a statement.

"BP's decision to join us in this new venture is a significant endorsement of our strategy to develop jatropha for the production of sustainable biodiesel," he added.

The joint venture will require funding of around 80 million pounds ($160 million) over five years.

Under the deal, BP has an option to subscribe for new shares representing about 16 percent for D1's enlarged share capital at an average price of 251 pence.

Shares in D1, which closed at 241p on Thursday, had climbed earlier this month after D1 said it was in advanced talks with an unnamed party about a strategic collaboration. That statement followed newspaper reports linking D1 with BP.

Source: Reuters

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