Amyris files for IPO; Codexis IPO may fly Thursday

In California, Amyris Biotechnologies filed its S-1 IPO registration statement with the SEC on Friday – becoming the second major biofuels-oriented firm to file for an IPO in the past six months, after Codexis.

Amyris, which hopes to raise up to $100 million in the offering, said in its S-1 statement that “We plan to commence commercialization of our products starting in 2011 using contract manufacturers, and to have our first capital light production facility, our joint venture with Usina São Martinho, operational in the second quarter of 2012. As we commence commercial production of our initial molecule, farnesene, we expect to target specialty chemical markets. Further, we are seeking to improve our strain performance to expand our addressable markets, including additional specialty chemical applications and renewable diesel. For most specialty chemical applications, we intend to sell directly to industrial customers.

“For distribution of our diesel in the U.S., we expect to sell directly, primarily to corporations with large trucking fleets. For distribution of our diesel in other geographies, we expect to sell indirectly through third parties. To build the capabilities we will need to import and distribute our renewable fuels products in the U.S., we have established our subsidiary Amyris Fuels, LLC. Amyris Fuels currently generates revenues through the sale of third party ethanol to wholesale customers through a network of terminals in the southeastern U.S.”

The company, which proposed a AMRS symbol, did not disclose the number of shares it intends to sell. J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Itau USA Securities and Thomas Weisel Partners are the underwriters.

Here is the full IPO registration statement.

Also, a profile of Amyris: The Yeast Kings rising, and raising a lot of dough.

Meanwhile, reports are filtering in that Thursday is the expected date for the Codexis IPO, which is raising up to $90 million in its offering with a 6 million share offer with a price range of $13 to $15, which would give the company a valuation of up to $509 million. The company posted a $20 million loss on revenues of $83 million.

What Amyris and Codexis have in common: existing — and for advanced bioenergy, relatively strong — revenue streams.

Who’s next: Don’t expect a rush to the exits, as the two most plausible IPOs have been filed; however, a few ventures in the biofuels mix are well worth keeping an eye out.

Keep a sharp look-out for those companies with strong, secondary renewable chemicals or food oils businesses that are likely to establish stronger revenues in the near-term as companies move down the cost curve towards oil parity.

In among the rumors – but highly premature: Gevo, LS9. LS9 is in some ways a mirror of Amyris, with two income streams developing in chemicals and fuels based on direct conversion of sugar (in LS9’s case, from an e.coli platform, versus yeast for Amyris).

People ask a lot, but it’s way, way too early: Sapphire Energy, Coskata, Abengoa Bioenergy (spinoff)

Not rumored, but plausible as revenues rise: Solazyme, Enerkem, Chromatin

As biodiesel returns…: Renewable Energy Group

Down the line, but may be snapped up by strategic investors first: Mascoma, Range Fuels, ZeaChem, Virent, Qteros, Iogen, Algenol, Ceres, Aurora Biofguels, Joule Biotechnologies, LanzaTech, Solix, SG Biofuels, GlycosBio

Previously rumored, but reportedly abandoned: BP Biofuels (spin-off)

Publicly traded Hot 50 companies: BP, Verenium, Novozymes, Honeywell (UOP), Petrobras, BlueFire Ethanol, Shell, ExxonMobil, KL Energy, Syngenta, Rentech, OriginOil

The story was different in 2008-09, when Codexis, Imperium, Changing World Technologies and Renewable Energy Group all cancelled planned IPOs in the face of the global economic crisis.

On the broader cleantech front, filings are expected as soon as this year from Triliant, Tesla, and Nanosolar, according to a Greentech Media report posted in January.