Praj Industries signs Joint Venture with Aker Kvaerner

Praj Industries Ltd has announced that the Company and Aker Kvaerner, global provider of engineering and construction services on June 12, 2007 announced the finalisation of an agreement to form a Joint Venture Company in Europe that will be called BioCnergy Europe B.V.

Pramod Chaudhari, Chairman of the Company and Wim van der Zande, Managing Director, Aker Kvaerner Netherlands B.V. confirmed that, following the approval of the joint venture (JV) by the Boards of both Companies in April, the agreement has now been finalised, paving the way for the Company to commence operations. The Company holds 60 percent in BioCnergy, while Aker Kvaerner holds 40 percent of the shareholding.

BioCnergy will build upon the individual strengths of its founding partners to offer European customers access to customised solutions for their biofuels projects. The JV will provide the technology package, engineering services, equipment and systems, project management services, construction and erection services, and commissioning, as well as turnkey biofuel plant. BioCnergy will address both the ethanol and biodiesel opportunities in Europe - an interesting potential given the Biofuels demand is likely to go up more than three-four times the present consumption by 2010.

Aker Kvaerner Netherlands B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Aker Kvaerner ASA, is the legal entity entering into the JV with the Company. The JV will be located in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, 50 kms from Amsterdam.

"We are very excited with the formation of BioCnergy. As its name implies, it will bring together the, core strengths of Praj and Aker Kvaerner to provide value plus solutions to the biofuels industry. The future is very promising and we are well poised to take advantage of the opportunities," Said Pramod Chaudhari of the Company.

The relationship between the joint venture partners is well established. Through a strategic alliance formed in 2006, the two Companies (Praj and Aker Kvaerner) have developed serious leads in the market and created valuable visibility. The Board of BioCnergy will consist of two members each, from the Company and Aker Kvaerner. The Company will be headed by Ronald van, der Vlist, presently Director of Technology at Aker Kvaerner.

Source : Equity Bulls

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