Specialty products maker Calumet is working with Lazard as it evaluates investment inquiries from strategics that are interested in the company’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) business.
Calumet has already contracted for 2,000 barrels per day of SAF with a blue-chip offtaker through its subsidiary Montana Renewables, based in Great Falls, Montana. That amount would make Calumet the largest SAF producer in North America once engineering modifications are complete in early 2023, said Louis Borgmann, CFO and EVP at Calumet.
Meanwhile, preliminary engineering work has been done to expand SAF production to as much as 15,000 barrels per day, a “world-class position [that] has generated considerable interest from strategic investors,” Borgmann added on the company’s 3Q22 earnings call.
Calumet had engaged Lazard to conduct a process that culminated in a $250m investment in Montana Renewables from Warburg Pincus in August, 2022. The investment, in the form of a participating preferred equity security, valued Montana Renewables at a pre-commissioning enterprise value of $2.25bn.
“Lazard remains retained. They’re out there. They’re very opportunistic,” Borgmann said. “And inbound honestly picked up with SAF. So, we don’t feel a rush, but there could be an opportunistic deal here that we could consider.”
Borgmann added that Montana Renewables’ SAF capacity was quickly contracted at a premium to renewable diesel prices.
The company is positioned to be a first mover in the high-growth West Coast and Canadian markets for SAF, Borgmann said, noting Montana Renewables’ proximity to western airports.
“Montana Renewables’ proximity to end product markets is exceptional,” he said. “We serve renewable markets on the West Coast with direct BNSF Rail access. And we’re perfectly positioned to support the continuously growing low-carbon markets in Canada.”
The company and other renewable diesel producers “that have invested in the ability to produce SAF could expect a lasting advantage” compared to new, more expensive technologies for producing SAF, he said. “And Montana Renewables is expected to have an additional transportation cost advantage relative to its Gulf Coast competition.”
Montana Renewables reached a supply and offtake agreement with Macquarie, announced last week.
