Stirred but Not Shaken
Marc-Andre Lebel is a funding warrior. Since 2007, he’s completed dozens of complicated capital raises to fuel FRX Polymers, his specialty chemical business and says, “it’s a very important survival skill for entrepreneurs.”
Last month, he took his company public on the Toronto Stock Exchange via a reverse takeover off (RTO) during one of the most volatile market periods in recent history. Add to that, a war, high inflation, supply chain issues and it seems like a miracle he was able to pull it off. “In fact,” he continues, “no IPOs are even happening right now. We may even be the last IPO that has gotten done, especially those for special situations. Special situations in Canada, are anything outside of oil and gas and mining, including materials. Had we not had that money in escrow in early February, we would have had to pull back.”
His stock is down along with the majority of the market but holding steady. And, yes, it’s painful. “It’s taken a long time to get to this point. We built the plant in 2015 [located in the Port of Antwerp, the leading European chemical manufacturing cluster in Europe-home to both base chemicals and fine chemicals production], and got it ready to sell. Since, we developed the markets and had to educate OEMs on how to use the material. We’re now at an inflection point in terms of sales.”
So, would he have done anything different knowing what he knows now? “We went public as two big pieces of legislation are going to revolutionize the world in terms of safe and sustainable flame retardants. This is going to create huge demand for Nofia, our unique patented green flame retardant.”
Do a quick mental inventory of your home. There's a good chance many items including hair dryers, curling irons, coffee machines contain brominated flame retardants, or BFRs. While the additive may ensure it won't burn when exposed to an ignition source, BFRs can get into your body and cause biological harm.
He explains, “It’s the first time ever that a whole class of flame retardants have been banned and it’s a really big deal. In 2019, the European Union came out with legislation banning all brominated flame retardants in electronic display housings such as TVs, computer monitors, and other such devices, due to their toxicity to humans and the planet. It was immediately opposed by the brominated flame retardant industry. In March of this year, the EU won that case. At the end of last year, the state of New York passed very similar legislation which makes it illegal to sell or produce electronic display housings and their stands flame retarded with brominated flame retardants. This legislation will impact the entire US as electronic device manufacturers will not want to produce special products just for the state of New York. The state of Washington this year is expected to rule similarly. Lastly, the EPA is studying the upgrading of TBBA, a high-volume brominated flame retardant from its current classification as a class 2 carcinogen to a class 1 carcinogen.”
The biggest challenge now that he’s a public company CEO, is not only creating a market for his products but creating a market for his stock. FRX is a completely new and unknown company in the public markets and so it is important to let investors know about all the exciting growth catalysts.
He describes himself as being a determined and persevering leader, “When we started FRX our vision was to bring a completely new green sustainable approach to the Flame Retardant Plastics Industry. Bringing new materials into the world is not for the faint hearted. It takes a great team who believes in the mission and a relentless pursuit to overcome all the obstacles in the way of ultimate success. I love to get the team excited about what can be. When good things happen, I’m the first to recognize it. I am very competitive by nature. What gives me and my team a higher purpose, is that we’re doing something important for the world, in that we are allowing the electronics industry not to compromise between fire safety and human health. In this case, one can have our cake and eat it too”.
