MAS Holdings invests in HeiQ AeoniQ™: a sustainable alternative to synthetics

ZÜRICH, July 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MAS Holdings, a global apparel & textile manufacturing and tech conglomerate, headquartered in Sri Lanka with a global footprint across 16 countries, secures a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ™ as part of its Plan for Change initiative to support the development of next-generation cellulosic filament fibers to replace polyester and nylon.

MAS Holdings and HeiQ administrators celebrate the deal that makes HeiQ AeoniQ™ stronger and scaled-up(From left to right: Nipuna Gunaratne – Sustainable Product Lead, MAS Holdings; Rajiv Dharmendra – Chief Executive Officer, MAS Intimates; Nemanthie Kooragamage – Director - Group Sustainable Business, MAS Holdings; Mahesh Amalean – Co-Founder & Chairman, MAS Holdings; Carlo Cen-tonze – Co-Founder & CEO, HeiQ Group; Musa Raibin - VP South Asia Brand Force, HeiQ Group; Ran-il Vitarana – Chief Innovation Officer, MAS Holdings)

HeiQ from Switzerland, leader in materials innovation, and MAS Holdings, a global apparel & textile manufacturing and tech conglomerate headquartered in Sri Lanka, and the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with approximately USD2 billion in turnover, entered a partnership for MAS to secure a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ GmbH, a subsidiary of HeiQ Group that will produce HeiQ AeoniQ™, a climate-positive cellulosic yarn.

With this investment, MAS Holdings becomes the first manufacturer to partner with HeiQ AeoniQ™ in their efforts to provide a sustainable alternative to polyester and nylon. The investment to be made by MAS Holdings is part of the group's strategy to drive a positive environmental impact. The MAS Plan for Change aims to generate 50% of the company's revenue through sustainable products by 2025, revolutionizing the textile industry with a focus on innovation, sustainable sourcing, and pioneering circularity at scale.

With the closing of this deal, HeiQ and MAS agreed to a 5-year Offtake Agreement for 3,000 tons of HeiQ AeoniQ™ yarn in 2025 and 5,000 tons per year from 2026 to 2029, valued by HeiQ in the aggregate to US$ 100 million. MAS will finalize this commitment within a stipulated time period after achieving milestone 1, and a mutual plan for commercialization. HeiQ and MAS firmly believe that rapid scaling is key to facilitating the fast adoption of sustainable, circular technologies such as HeiQ AeoniQ™.

HeiQ AeoniQ™: a game-changer for the textile industry

Since Q4 2021, HeiQ's launch of the HeiQ AeoniQ™ technology has been attracting the attention of major global players in the textile and clothing industries.

With the proprietary manufacturing method, for the first time in history, a cellulosic filament yarn can be made from a wide range of non-valorized feedstock and is able to reproduce comparable performance features of polyester or nylon, while being sustainable and endlessly circular.

The HeiQ AeoniQ™ pilot plant in Austria is manufacturing this revolutionary continuous cellulosic filament yarn since Q3 2022, with up to a 100 tons capacity to be upscaled up to 300 tons by the end of 2023.

The HeiQ AeoniQ™ production scale-up is planned to have its definitive boost by early 2026 with the construction of an entirely new gigafactory capable of a 30,000-ton output per year, in a 250M USD estimated investment.

Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ Group, said, "Since the beginning, HeiQ has pioneered textile innovation, revolutionizing sustainable functionality and enhancing the lives of billions. Now, with the introduction of HeiQ AeoniQ™, we solidify our unwavering commitment to disrupting the textile industry—a sector that has long held the dubious distinction of being the world's second-largest polluter. MAS' investment and offtake agreement serves as resounding proof that leading textiles value chain players recognize HeiQ AeoniQ™ as the ultimate game-changer, placing their trust in its transformative power, and is a natural result of the confidence built over a decade that HeiQ and MAS have been doing business together" 

Group Chief Executive Officer of MAS Holdings, Suren Fernando adds, "MAS was built on the foundational belief of doing the right thing. As a global organization nurturing over 100,000 individuals, we are convinced of our responsibility to drive positive change within the apparel industry through sustainable product solutions. We believe that this investment is an important step in our efforts to reshape our industry by driving innovation, collaboration, and scale. With HeiQ AeoniQ™ as a key catalyst, we are poised to pave the way for a more sustainable future."

Polyester and nylon, two oil-based fibers, virtually non-recyclable, account for about 70% of all the global textile production, they take between 350 to 1000 years to degrade in nature, are currently close loop recycled at less than 1%, and are at the origin of 35% of the microplastics that can be found in today's oceans. HeiQ AeoniQ™ was innovated and is being hyper-scaled up to change this course of action.

About HeiQ

Founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market (XLON:HEIQ), HeiQ is a leader in textile and materials innovation creating some of the most effective, durable and high-performance technologies on the market today. HeiQ strives to improve the lives of billions of people through pioneering textiles and materials innovation. Combining three areas of expertise – scientific research, specialty materials manufacturing, and consumer ingredient branding – HeiQ is the ideal innovation partner to create differentiating and sustainable products and capture the added value at the point of sale. With its 14 offices, 7 manufacturing sites, and 7 R&D hubs, HeiQ today employs 200+ professionals. It has a total capacity of 45'000 tons of specialty chemicals per year and serves over 1'000 industrial customers in over 60 countries. Today, HeiQ's technologies can be found in 60+ countries. For more information, visit www.heiq.com

About MAS Holdings

MAS Holdings, the largest apparel tech company in South Asia, is among the most recognized design-to-delivery solution providers in apparel and textile manufacturing. Home to a community of over 110,000 people, today, MAS spans across manufacturing plants in 16 countries, with established design locations placed in key style centers across the world. Catering to the demands of a dynamic and ever-changing industry, the MAS portfolio has expanded exponentially; into brands, wearable technology, FemTech, start-ups and fabric parks worldwide.

Over 35 years of operations, MAS has gained global recognition for its ethical and sustainable working environment and for the organization's tireless efforts in social development and women's empowerment. Today, the company's efforts to drive positive impact are outlined in the MAS Plan for Change, a commitment to create sustainable change under three areas of focus: products, lives, and planet. Through these initiatives, MAS aims to inspire all employees to be changemakers, enabling dreams and enriching the fabric of life on our planet.

Visit www.masholdings.com for more details.

About HeiQ AeoniQ™

HeiQ AeoniQ™ is HeiQ's key initiative to disrupt the textile industry. As the global leader in textile innovations, HeiQ aims to create the world's first climate-positive continuous cellulosic filament yarn through a proprietary manufacturing process, reproducing the properties of polyester and nylon yarns for the first time in a cellulosic, durable, biodegradable, and endlessly recyclable fiber. HeiQ has established HeiQ AeoniQ™ as a stand-alone company, allowing its business partners to participate from the development stage and be part of the team pioneering this initiative to reverse the carbon footprint in the textile industry. To make HeiQ AeoniQ™ possible, HeiQ entered a first mover brand partnership with HUGO BOSS, and together they turned HeiQ AeoniQ™ into a piece of garment. The LYCRA Company is involved in this initiative as the global distributor. MAS Holdings became the newest partner of the project.

For more information, visit https://www.heiq-aeoniq.com/

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