Unnafibras receives investment from fund and increases capacity
Valor Econômico
Stratus, by means of the CleanTech investment fund, purchased 8.5% of Unnafibras, manufacturer of recycled polyester fibers, with an investment of R$ 12 million (US$ 6.7 million). The funds will be used in the increase of the productive capacity of the company that turns PET bottles into polyester fibers for use in fabrics. According to José Trevisan Junior, President of Unnafibras, the purpose of the company is to increase the production in 12 thousand tons of processed bottles a year, reaching 42 thousand tons still this year.
According to the Executive, new types of fibers should also be produced, increasing the market of Unnafibras. Today, it caters to clothing manufacturers, automotive seat liners, pillow filling and ecological leather. Acquisitions are on the radar of the company that has plants in Santo André and Mauá, both in São Paulo, and in Alhandra, in Paraíba. On the side of Stratus, the interest in Unnafibras is in perspective of growth of the market of recycled PET in Brazil. "There is still a lot of room for growth. Both due to the increase in the consumption of PET and to the greater recycling", says Álvaro Gonçalves, partner of Stratus.
According to the calculations of the Brazilian Association of the Industry of PET bottles, 55% of the bottles made of this resin consumed by Brazilians are recycled, and the main companies that operate in such sector are the Unnafibras, Mossi & Ghisolfi and Ecofabril.
To keep up with the growth of the demand, Unnafibras may still receive nearly R$ 90 million (US$ 50 million) in investments from Stratus and investors attracted by it, whose names have not been disclosed. The new resources, however, are still being negotiated. Unnafibras is the third investment of CleanTech, which still has resources to make another acquisition. The two other are Amyris Brasil, manufacturer of renewable chemical products from sugar cane, and the afforestation company Brazil Timber. The fund aims at companies that focus on the environment from recycling, renewable energy generation and sustainability.