Translation: Original published in Finnish on 7/8/2026 at 8:30 am EEST.

Taaleri announced on Tuesday that it is investing 30 MEUR in the Fintoil biorefinery together with the Norwegian private equity investor HitecVision. The total amount of the financing round is ~105 MEUR. We had expected a larger arrangement from Taaleri this year, and the additional investment in Fintoil was one of the most potential targets. We consider the involvement of a private equity investor focused on the energy sector a positive signal, and the arrangement also clarifies Taaleri's capital allocation. Ultimately, Fintoil's future operational development will largely determine the success of the investment, so the arrangement does not have a material immediate impact on our forecasts or our view of the company.

The investment clarifies Taaleri's capital allocation

Of Taaleri's 30 MEUR investment, ~25 MEUR will be paid in connection with the transaction by an estimated end of September 2026, and the remaining ~5 MEUR in connection with industrial investments, estimated in H1/2027. The company will finance the investment with its cash reserves and recently concluded credit agreements. We have previously estimated that the liquidity buffer accumulated by the company (cash + new credit facilities) clearly pointed to a larger arrangement, and we considered increasing the Fintoil ownership as one of the most likely scenarios. The investment is in line with Taaleri's updated strategy, as the company aims to significantly increase its balance sheet investments. However, the size of the financing round is larger than our estimate due to the involvement of a private equity investor, so after Fintoil's financing restructuring, capital will also remain for growth investments. In addition, a strong partner can enable larger industry arrangements in the future.

From Taaleri's perspective, we see it as positive that capital is being invested in an existing asset with proven commercial potential. At the same time, this puts Taaleri's capital to work and clarifies its allocation. We also consider the involvement of a private equity investor focused on the energy sector, with a significant contribution of 75 MEUR, to be a positive development for both risk sharing and the credibility of Fintoil's ambitious growth strategy. At the same time, Fintoil will become the Group's largest single investment (balance sheet value of ~40 MEUR after the arrangement), accounting for over 40% of all holdings in the Investments segment. Thus, Fintoil's operational development will be key to the value creation of Taaleri's balance sheet investments in the coming years. Taaleri aims for a return of over 15% on its investment, in line with the Group's financial targets. Due to the mature development stage of the business, value creation could materialize for Taaleri's shareholders in the coming years, even though it is fundamentally a longer-term investment. After the funding round, Taaleri will own roughly 35% of Fintoil.

Although the announced arrangement consumes a large portion of Taaleri's investment capacity, its efforts are by no means exhausted. We estimate that the company is still able to make investments worth 50–70 MEUR within its current financing arrangements.

Fintoil's development has been strong

Fintoil refines crude tall oil into products that its customers use as raw material in their own production. Bio-based crude tall oil derivatives have numerous applications, and customers can utilize different derivatives in, for example, the production of biodiesel and bio-kerosene, adhesives for the packaging industry, and as raw materials in the cosmetics industry. Production started in the fall of 2022.

Fintoil's operational development has been strong, as the company already generated 149 MEUR in revenue and 9 MEUR in EBITDA during the 12-month period ending March 2026. Operations are also profitable on the lower lines of the income statement, as Fintoil recorded a net profit of 2.8 MEUR for the 2025 fiscal year. Fintoil aims to continue scaling up production significantly, targeting substantial double-digit revenue growth and an EBITDA level of around 20% by 2030 (current level ~6% based on the last 12 months).

Fintoil's production plant utilization rate was around 75% in 2025, and in our view, with the recently completed financing round, this can be further increased towards maximum capacity. However, the majority of the new capital will be used to unwind previously raised project financing (Biorefinery 1). The company will also record an estimated 2.5 MEUR performance fee from the Bioindustry 1 fund it raised, in connection with the repayment. The size of the performance fee is quite well in line with our expectations, so the announcement does not cause a material need for changes to our forecasts.