Next Renewable Fuels to terminate business combination with ITAQ

Next Renewable Fuels Inc. announced Nov. 1 that the company has entered into a mutual agreement with Industrial Tech Acquisition II Inc. (ITAQ) to terminate its previously announced business combination.

The company said the move will not impact its growth strategy, operating plan or project financing.

“While this termination reflects current equity-market conditions and timing related to ITAQ, Next will remain opportunistic with respect to all capital-markets activities moving forward,” Next stated.

“While we have made significant progress on our path towards becoming public through the [special purpose acquisition company (SPAC)] process with ITAQ, the timeline in which ITAQ is required to consummate a merger has become compressed, and during this period of adverse market conditions we have agreed to terminate our proposed business combination agreement,” said Next CEO Christopher Efird.

“While this was a difficult decision, we have the discipline and capital-markets expertise that enables us to make these decisions,” Efird added. “Given where we stand today, moving forward with this merger would not have been in the best interests of Next. Importantly, this termination does not impact our development activities in Oregon or our intent to pursue Next becoming a publicly traded entity. My overarching goal is to remain open and opportunistic in finding a favorable capital-markets path for Next in the near term. We thank the ITAQ team for the partnership and support throughout this process.”

Additional information regarding the termination of the transaction agreement for the proposed business combination is provided in a report filed by ITAQ with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Next first announced the business-combination agreement with ITAQ a year ago.

Next is developing a 750-million-gallon-per-year renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) refinery in Oregon with multimodal access to the West Coast markets.

According to Next, the project is advancing through permitting and expects to begin construction upon completion of an Environmental Impact Statement currently underway with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.