DowAksa Advanced Composites Holdings B.V., RUSNANO and Holding Company Composite (HCC) signed an agreement that clarifies the terms of future investments in the Nanotechnology Center of Composites, which is a joint project of HCC, and the Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs (FIEP, a member of RUSNANO Group).

Each party – HCC, DowAksa and FIEP – will ultimately own one third of the total charter capital of the Nanotechnology Center of Composites. When legal agreements are finalized in the next several months, DowAksa will become an equal participant of the Nanotechnology Center of Composites. DowAksa is anticipating to take part in the second round of financing of NCC and invest in NCC Charter Capital the amount of approximately 134 Million Rubles (approximately $4.3 Million USD) which translates to a 33 1/3 percent share.

This anticipated investment is included in the current DowAksa 10 year business plan and is funded by the initial investment by Shareholders. HCC and FIEP are also anticipating to take part in the second round of financing and are going to invest their portion of contribution simultaneously with DowAksa.

Mehmet Ali Berkman, Chairman of Aksa Board and Deputy Chairman of DowAksa Board of Directors; Douglas Parks, a member of the DowAksa Board of Directors and Dow’s Global Business Director for Lightweight Materials and Governmental Markets; Anatoly Chubais, RUSNANO CEO and Chairman of Executive Board; and Leonid Melamed, CEO of HCC, signed the agreement at the “Composites without Borders” conference, which was part of the Open Innovations Forum agenda in Moscow, taking place on October 31 – November 2, 2013.

This document is another important milestone in the parties' cooperation, emphasizing the intentions outlined earlier in the 2013 MOU at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Already today the Nanotechnology Center of Composites is a foundation for start-ups in production of polymer composite materials for the growing industrial sectors including construction, energy and automotive. By now, only one line has been launched in the Nanotechnology Center of Composites to produce polymer composite materials to be used in construction, energy, IT; the ?enter is also equipped with the high-tech scientific laboratory and one of its kind multi-axial machine. The 2nd production line is to be launched soon. The Center will showcase latest technologies of polymer composites processing in Russia.

"Dow and Aksa came together last year to produce carbon fiber, a true material of the future. With many uses still early in their product life cycles, carbon fiber’s strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, longer life time, less thermal expansion and better flame resistance make it highly competitive against other traditional composite materials,” said Mehmet Ali Berkman, Deputy Board Chairman of DowAksa.

“Aksa holds 14% of the global acrylic market, and has the capacity to greatly expand production. With demand increasing due to strict regulations to curb CO2 emissions, such expanded capacity, along with Dow’s superior materials and manufacturing technologies, give DowAksa the ability to meet that demand. This new partnership will now combine Russian strength in research and development with DowAksa’s unparalleled production infrastructure advantages to improve composite applications in many sectors, including oil and gas, construction, wind and transport.”

“When finalized, this agreement will provide DowAksa accelerated access to the growing Russian carbon fiber composite market with specific focus on Oil & Gas and Infrastructure applications, as well as significantly reduce DowAksa internal investment costs by providing unique access to world class engineering resources, pilot manufacturing equipment/capabilities, and novel product development, said Douglas Parks, DowAksa Board Member and Dow Global Business Director for Lightweight Materials and Government Markets.

“In exchange, DowAksa will provide access to global market channels, exposure to international partners, and the opportunity to provide services to an international audience. This is truly a ‘win-win’ scenario for all parties involved.”

“I’m confident that Nanotechnology Center of Composites will fully exploit all the opportunities brought by a business and technological partnership with DowAksa," said Anatoly Chubais, RUSNANO CEO and Chairman of Executive Board.

“With a partner of such a caliber, our portfolio project will greatly enhance its potential in a high importance field of carbon composite materials which are suitable for a virtually limitless range of applications, from aeronautics to sports industry.”

“We do hope that the cooperation with global leaders in chemistry and composites industry, such as DowAksa, will enable us to reach a new level in the development of new products from composites for various industrial applications. We’ll have an opportunity to more effectively promote our products in Russia, CIS and across global markets,” said Leonid Melamed, CEO of HCC.