Amyris, Inc., and US Venture, Inc., a distributor of industrial and automotive aftermarket products and lubricants, plan to form a joint venture for the production, marketing and distribution of finished renewable lubricants for the North American market. The joint venture would market and sell lubricants employing Amyris’s synthetic renewable base oils derived from Biofene. The parties aim to sign definitive agreements in the second quarter of this year.
The plans for the joint venture anticipate that US Venture would contribute to the joint venture its existing regional lubricants business (US Lubricants), including products and customer relationships in the industrial, commercial and consumer segments. Amyris would facilitate access to a supply of its proprietary synthetic renewable base oils and formulations for a range of lubricant products using those base oils.
Under the planned arrangement, Amyris would become the majority economic beneficiary of the joint venture. Amyris is working on the production of a complete line of renewable lubricants, including hydraulic, compressor, turbine and gear oil and grease, as well as 2-cycle and 4-cycle engine oil. The product line would be designed to provide “No Compromise”performance and equipment protection equal or superior to that of existing synthetic lubricants, while offering environmental benefits such as improved biodegradability and low toxicity compared to traditional petroleum-based lubricants.
Amyris uses its industrial synthetic biology platform to convert plant sugars into a variety of hydrocarbon molecules, which it is commercializing both as No Compromise renewable ingredients in cosmetics, flavors and fragrances, polymers, lubricants and consumer products, and also as No Compromise renewable diesel and jet fuel. Amyris Brasil SA, a subsidiary of Amyris, oversees the establishment and expansion of Amyris’s production in Brazil.