After three failed attempts to auction off the assets of Bio-on, the Italian PHA manufacturer that was officially declared bankrupt following a court decision in in December 2019 in Bologna, Italy, the bankruptcy trustees are getting ready to try again.
A new date has been set with a minimum bid of €42 million, less than half of the ambitious starting price of €95 million back in May of this year.
According to the most recent notice of sale, offers may be submitted until 21 December, with the hearing taking place the next day.
The assets are described as a single joint lot, consisting of the Bio-on business complex, including all tangible and intangible assets such as the patent assets and the production plant, with attached laboratories, in Castel San Pietro Terme, in the province of Bologna, for the production of PHA-based bioplastics.
More information and detailed documentation is available in the virtual data room opened by the trustees for the purpose of due diligence investigations, to which interested parties will be given access.
Bio-On came under severe financial pressure and legal investigation following a 2019 report from analysts that claimed Bio-On was "a house of cards" and "a massive bubble based on flawed technology and fictitious sales thanks to a network of empty shell companies."
The value of Bio-On shares fell 50 percent and trading was suspended. Italian prosecutors then opened a probe over the alleged market manipulation and accounting irregularities at the company. Five months later, the company was declared bankrupt.