Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for attending the Carbios Update Conference. I'm Philippe Pouletty. I'm the founder and Chairman of the board of Carbios, and since yesterday, Acting CEO. You know, obviously, since I started the company, I have a great passion for Carbios, which is truly a terrific company which has developed a breakthrough technology which is broadly recognized worldwide by the scientific community, by prominent companies like L'Oréal, Michelin, Ne , L'Occitane, Indorama Ventures, PepsiCo, SASA, and others, as well as by the experts of the French Ministry of Industry and by the European Investment Bank.
After successfully building and operating the Carbios demo plant, which showed that the bioenzyme technology of Carbios could very effectively recycle within about 10 hours, 100 bottles of plastic, Carbios has started to build its first industrial plant in Northern France to recycle about 50,000 tons per year of plastic, which we call PET, waste. Currently, Carbios has a strong cash position of more than EUR 110 million. As Joe Biden would have said, I repeat the line: a strong EUR 110 million of cash position. However, the French and European economic environment is, I would say, a little bit challenging. While the U.S. seems to improve quite fast after its presidential election, Europe, as it's usually the case, may be slower in its economic recovery.
Interestingly, the French state and the northern French region had pledged to Carbios very substantial grants: EUR 42 million, which is a key catalyst to secure the additional financing, which will be probably non-dilutive, which is necessary to complete the construction and the initial operations of Carbios Longlaville manufacturing plant. However, the French government was a little slow in notifying the European Commission about the so-called France 2030 grants, because the European Commission must bless state aids, and that has resulted in a delay to obtain such European Commission green light, and Carbios getting the resulting payment from the French government. We, however, do expect this notification to take place within days. Nice Christmas present would be, and the resulting green light from the European Commission in Q1, and then the payment.
Therefore, taking into account this grant delay, which was out of the control of Carbios, and unlike some other companies, you know, hydrogen batteries, for example, that continue to burn cash irrespective of economic pressure, we at Carbios have decided, with the board of directors, which we had yesterday, today, by hopefully just a few months, the construction of our Longlaville plant to secure these grants and the additional financing. The additional financing above the grants I just mentioned could also benefit from a guarantee from the French government at the level of €86 million, such a guarantee being called GPS, that, of course, will, if obtained, greatly facilitate securing the private loans under favorable terms.
In order to execute our updated plan, which is to secure the additional needed financing, finalizing several key negotiations which are ongoing offtake, I like to say pre-sale, agreements for the Longlaville future PET production, and reactivate full speed the construction of our Longlaville plant. The board of directors, which I chaired yesterday, decided a change of governance. What I bring is about 35 years as a successful entrepreneur, 13 years in Silicon Valley, 20 years in France, including nine years as chairman of France Biotech, five years as vice chairman of EuropaBio, and founder of several successful life sciences companies in the U.S. and Europe. Allowing me to show you a PET bottle which Longlaville will recycle hopefully soon.
With that, I have direct access, personal access, to the highest level of the French government, I should say whatever government it is, and global banks to help secure in a timely manner the grants and hopefully the EUR 86 million loan guarantees. During the interim CEO mission, I'm very pleased to be supported by an outstanding partner who is here with us today for Q&A, Vincent Kamel, who has been a Carbios board member for several years, who has a stellar professional background as senior executive in the specialty chemistry field, including plastics at companies such as Solvay or Rhône-Poulenc. Our updated plan is also crafted to negotiate in a position of strengths with potential licensing, commercial, and financial partners. At Carbios, we have a great passion for recycling plastics. We think we have now a realistic plan.
We'll communicate and update you in a realistic manner from time to time. The market size is very high. The demand from customers for 100% recycled PET is very high, and the Carbios technology is highly differentiated. So since it's soon Christmas, allow me a little sentence. We are not going to promise you with Vincent the moon, but we promise you to help the planet and work hard to rebuild shareholder value at Carbios. So thank you for your attention to this brief introduction. I apologize for speaking English, but we have a lot of attendees that do not speak French, and I'd like to open now the Q&A session. Vincent will help me answer some questions. So you know, I have one question. Why am I the new CEO, I should say the interim CEO, who are starting today the search for a long-term CEO.
Why, as Emmanuel Ladent left, I wish to thank Emmanuel Ladent for his three years. Well, as many of you know and my 35 years' experience, is that no growing technology-driven company will succeed with the same team from inception to the commercial stage, and it's very natural at some points to have fresh blood joining the company, especially when the environment is a little tougher than previously, and that's how successful companies succeed. Companies which fail often do not make the right decision at the right time, and at Carbios, we are committed now and in the future to try to make the wise decision at the right time, so I see another question, which was, you know, I'm a shareholder for several years. Je le dirai en français, c'est quelqu'un qui l'a posé en français. Je suis actionnaire depuis plusieurs années.
Rien dans les deux dernières présentations ne laissait présager cette décision. Pouvez-vous nous donner une discussion avec Indorama? Donc, je vous répondrai volontiers plus en détail, mais vous savez qu'on est une compagnie cotée en bourse. La MAIF n'est peut-être pas à ce call, mais nous surveille de près. On a des actionnaires dans le monde entier. Donc, vous comprendrez qu'au-delà du communiqué de presse, on ne peut pas être très spécifique. Et puis, tous les changements sont souvent, pour certains, des surprises. On ne les appellerait pas des changements. Indorama, bon, je vais être plus spécifique, mais j'ai dit tout à l'heure que pour négocier avec des très gros partenaires, il faut être dans une position de force. Il faut avoir une équipe de management qui a l'expérience des négociations. Alors, je vous donnerai un petit secret.
J'ai un petit aller-retour de 36 heures à Bangkok à 10 jours, et j'étais assez content d'avoir fait cet aller-retour, même si je ne vous en donnerai pas les résultats. Je vais bientôt une question pour Vincent. Alors, based on today's press release, it's probably fair to assume that Indorama Ventures has pulled out of the contract negotiation with Carbios. Is that true? Why is that? So my comment, which will be limited again, is Indorama Ventures had written to us that they were very pleased with the due diligence, which lasted a long time, but which was in depth. So they recognize Carbios' technology, its potential, its scaling potential, the results of the demo plant, and so on. So I didn't do 26 hours of flight from Paris to Bangkok if there was a termination of discussions. That would have taken a five-minute phone call.
I hope that is clear enough, but of course, we'll continue to discuss, but for Carbios, we think in a good position of strengths. So another question is, why don't you finance the plant with worse conditions? You would keep the trust of your shareholders. You will stuck to a timetable. So again, the grants payment that France pledged to Carbios is a very important catalyst to secure the overall financing. So we wish the French government would have done it months ago, the notification for to Brussels. Well, you know the French environment, administration, it's a little changing these days, so it took more time, and it's very important to build on this grant and also on the hopefully expected guarantee of €86 million to the right financing.
And you know, talking of the financing in very bad condition, we care about securing successfully the financing so that by 2027, probably we have output from Longlaville for 50,000 tons of waste, but we also care in rebuilding shareholder value, which Vincent, I, the team, the board of directors work very hard at. So I love this kind of straight question. Stop the bullshit. The stock prices drop massively. Well, you know, when that happens, and it has happened for many companies in the U.S. and Europe, you need to take action to try to have a realistic plan, to take the right decision in governance, in negotiations. And again, the Indorama deal, I would not say at all has failed.
The wrong decision would have been to sign a bad deal with Indorama or with any other partners, which might make a nice press release, but certainly could negatively affect our short, medium-term, and long-term future. So there's another question, which is someone spoke to the CEO and CFO, and there was no indication. Well, if you look at some of the changes which have taken place at Stellantis, at Suez, other companies, I'm not sure that the previous CEO or CFOs would have commented about potential changes. So there are, you know, other questions on Indorama and Longlaville. I think I've addressed them. And there is a question on timetable. In the past, I believe that too many times the company gave timetable. There's no such thing as a certain schedule of events for technology-driven companies transitioning to the industrial stage.
So we do everything possible so that by 2027, the company has strong commercial standing from Longlaville and will fulfill several binding licenses. But I shall not give you a very specific timetable, and Vincent will not do it because there are always some variables, some under Carbios control, and some outside of Carbios control. There is an interesting question on takeover candidates. Many companies, especially European companies, get acquired by U.S., Swiss, Chinese, or other companies, often too early because they can't raise cash, they have failed their milestones, and so on. So clearly, the new plan, again, saying we have a strong position of cash today, we're not going to burn it in an uncontrolled manner so that we are in a good position to resist unnecessary bad decisions. That's what we'll try to do.
Now, you know probably that the shareholder base of Carbios has very strong shareholders. I will name as an example L'Oréal, or Michelin, or L'Occitane, and so on, and I do not believe these companies are shareholders of Carbios to try to make a capital gain soon. They are in because they need Carbios product. They need Carbios technology. The customer needs 100% recycled plastic with a technology which is planet-friendly, like Carbios technology. Now, I'm scrolling at other questions. It takes me a few seconds. You know, there is an interesting question on, again, Indorama. You know, if with your team, your negotiation does not succeed as a win-win agreement for Carbios, what would happen? I would say if there had been a bad agreement with Indorama showing most of the economic benefit from Longlaville, what would happen? Well, that would kill the future of Longlaville for Carbios.
If there was no Indorama, which I'm not at all saying that would be the case, in fact, with the grants, with the guarantee for the French government, with private loans on the good terms, and we have very strong banks committed with us to work on such non-dilutive financing, could you do it? The answer is yes, I believe we could do it. And maybe Vincent, you could comment on that, but unfortunately, again, we won't be able as a public company to give you too many specifics.
Vincent?
Hello everybody. Just one element is, as I said, Philippe, is if Indorama is still in negotiation with us, just obvious, it's because they believe, as we believe, there is no doubt the technology works and the plant has payback by itself to its stakeholders. And finally, that in a standalone mode, we are able to make it happen. Philippe?
Thank you, Vincent. So there is another question of Longlaville saying, well, you know, from previous management, we believe the Longlaville factory is on track. It's true. It's absolutely true. The permit was open. The land was acquired by Carbios from Indorama. The orders of equipment took place. The building is ongoing. However, they decided to slow it down. Slow it down for the reason I explained, so that given the challenging European financial environment, Carbios is not in a bad cash-in-the-bank situation. Slowing down does not mean stopping, of course, and I don't expect this. If we would not secure in a timely manner the adequate financing, then the delay would be certainly longer. I'm not going to give you a specific date. Retrospective planning is easier than prospective.
But let's say that Vincent, I, the team, the board are working hard with the right bank partners, which the French government at the highest level to secure the complementary financing so that we can continue Longlaville with a delay which would be reasonable. So what do we think about competitors making an announcement, delaying or postponing their project? I'm going to talk about competitors. We believe Carbios has the best, most differentiated technology, which can work not only with packaging like bottles, but also soon with textiles, which is 70% of the potential market. But the demand market potential is very high for 100% recycled PET. For that, you need the adequate technology. Maybe some competitors believe they were a little too optimistic about that technology. I'm not going to comment in detail. Maybe that can explain some of the announcement.
I'd like to add something beyond our expertise in enzymes and plastics. We have a very strong expertise in purification, in pharmaceutical-grade products. And certainly, you'll see that in the coming years, being able to say we have the most defined purity, the most characterization of the small amount of impurities could make a great difference over the other differentiating factors. Was there any disagreement with Emmanuel Ladent? Well, when a CEO leaves, when a new CEO or acting CEO, being chairman, takes the lead, it may say there was some disagreement. But you know, we're not on very good terms. I think Emmanuel has said, when do we have dinner in January? I'm not going to tell you in which restaurant. It shouldn't start in the press release.
But certainly, again, it's normal, like a growing child of youngsters or adults, for successful companies to have some changes in governance. Have you shortlisted the new CEO? The answer is not yet. But as of today, we've started an active search. Interestingly, with some candidates who are spontaneously putting their candidature in, but we'll take the time it takes to interview, check preferences, and select the best person who will be at Carbios for the next step until commercial stage at least. Is L'Oréal still invested? You know, I don't know if I can specifically answer, but last time I was with the Deputy CFO of L'Oréal as the representative of L'Oréal was yesterday afternoon at 5:00 P.M. So yes, they are still very much involved and supporting. So what is the probability that you receive the money from the government until Christmas?
You know, we're adults, so I think we don't believe in Santa Claus for a number of years. What we can say is we are confident that the government will have notified Brussels by the end of this year, and that could result in Q1 green light from Brussels. But I have not been proposed any position in the government, so I cannot go beyond that. Interesting question on why L'Oréal, Michelin, and Truffle are not buying shares. Well, many of you know the rules in a publicly traded company. The window is closed for any insider. So L'Oréal, Michelin, as an example, I have a representative on the board, so they cannot trade shares.
I'm sure several would like to buy it because, as several of you said, you know, the price does not reflect the true value of Carbios, the NPV, and so on, but there are some strict rules for publicly listed companies. Will Longlaville manage also textile waste? Vincent, would you like to address this? Yes, absolutely. So our technology is able not only to process, that is, the waste coming from usually bottle, but we look for hard waste. I mean, the waste that are not today used by mechanical recycling. So our technology allows that. Will be there textile waste in Longlaville? Probably yes. I do not want to disclose today because we are in discussion with several players the proportion of such waste. Philippe, Vincent, how long do we have to wait for some signature contracts on the market of PLA?
Again, what I can tell you and Vincent could confirm is there are, you know, active discussions. But good contracts can take time to negotiate and sign. What our team shall not do is to do a lot of press releases or LinkedIn and saying we have non-binding agreements and so on. We'll tell you when we have binding solid agreements. Now, someone is talking about the economic environment. You know, it's challenging, strong headwind indeed. But frankly, for those of us who have been a few years around, whether in Europe or in the U.S., there has been cycles, whether it's in the U.S., whether it's in Europe, for small caps, more than big companies, and the only question is not whether the sun will shine again, but when.
So, you know, interestingly, again, the U.S. seems to have a faster recovery than projected, and that's certainly a very strong sign for Carbios and for Europe, which typically takes longer. Carbios is not a French company operating solely in France. It's based in France and we're very pleased to help France to build some leaders in major market and technology fields. But fortunately, we have a lot of connections abroad in Europe, in the U.S., and in Asia to help Carbios grow. So I'm looking at others which we have not addressed. So there are questions on what will you do if the stock price drops further? What we are doing and will do is work hard, right?
We are not in the business of predicting stock price, but what we can tell you with experience is that real news flow, real progress can drive stock price going up and also reaching out to different banks of potential investors. You know, it's not only France. We have a lot of people interested in Germany. Certainly, the U.S., like for many life sciences companies, can be a source of big investors. And we probably need to do a little more work internationally to attract a broader base of investors. However, what drives a stock price is news flow, good progress, solid conclusion of agreements, moving forward toward the commercial stage. So why don't you buy some stock myself? I'd love to do it. I can't because there is no trading window for insiders. Someone is asking quelques demandes si les contrats de prévente.
Je suis très content que quelqu'un l'ait prévenu parce que souvent, on les appelle dans cette industrie off-take agreement et tout le monde ne comprend pas. Donc, est-ce qu'ils auront un impact positif significatif sur le cash en 2025? Vincent, tu veux répondre à cette question? Oui, alors c'est un impact certainement significatif, certainement pas. Parce qu'on parle là de contrats d'off-take, c'est-à-dire des ventes de produits qui seront livrés lorsque l'usine commence à délivrer quelque part en 2026. Et donc, il n'a pas, et sans disclose, sans parler du détail du contrat que nous sommes en train de négocier, disons l'impact arrivera réellement lorsque nous livrerons le produit, c'est-à-dire en 2026. Someone is asking in English, do you consider going private, which means delisting from Euronext? Absolutely not, for several reasons.
First, a delisting of a stock market like Euronext takes a long time, is complicated, it's costly, and so on and you know, right now, you would say it's not the best time to be listed but again, if you look at downturns and upsides and cyclic conditions, Euronext, Nasdaq, and so on, you know, conditions can change very quickly for an overall sector or for companies which show good progress so historically, it has been very good for Carbios to be listed. The current environment is not the best one as a listed company but you know, again, if we look at history in the tech sector, in the life sciences sector, we should be a little optimistic. I think, hopefully, we have covered with Vincent most of the questions, and I see we're now at the time we were thinking.
If there are any more questions, please, it's time to ask. I'd like to say that what also can drive stock price, which can make success, is the level of commitment, the level of passion that the teams, the senior executives, the board show. And certainly, everyone is committed to build shareholder trust and value. But it's not any company, right? Certainly, people could invest in safe haven and so on. It's also our building a company we'll be proud of, our children, our grandchildren will be proud of. Because if you talk to Vincent or others, you know, it's not about capital gain only. And certainly, I hope our grandchildren, I should have my third one next week, will be proud of what we are doing. I'm sorry, I did a selective disclosure about my third grandchild, but that shouldn't be material.
So we need to help our planet with great science, great technology, resilience, commitment, resources, human resources, and financial resources. And if we do that, we shall succeed. And all of us, you who participated in supporting Carbios, will be proud of what we have done. So thank you very much. We'll talk to you in the near future, but not right away. We'll wait for brand new solid news to tell you about. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year to all of you.