DLA Piper advises Sio Silica in its business combination with Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp.

DLA Piper represented Sio Silica Corporation (Sio), a Canadian-based company that seeks to become a global leader in the production and supply of environmentally and ethically produced high-purity quartz silica, in its business combination with Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp. (Pyrophyte), a special-purpose acquisition company.

The terms of the business combination reflect an implied enterprise value of US$708 million and equity value of US$758 million for the combined company. Approximately US$150 million of gross capital has been secured through equity, debt and royalty commitments from institutional and individual accredited investors, and Sio’s expected cash on hand.

The capital secured from the business combination will be used to accelerate Sio’s entrance into the high-purity crystalline quartz market, which is an essential element for various green technologies, including solar panels, semiconductors and photovoltaics.

“Sio’s business combination with Pyrophyte will provide the company with resources to fuel the next phase of its development,” said Daniel Kenney, the DLA Piper relationship partner who led the DLA Canada deal team. “On behalf of our team, we were pleased to work with Sio and look forward to supporting their future growth.”

Steve Alicanti, the DLA Piper partner who led the US deal team, said: “It was a pleasure to work with Sio during this critical inflection point in the company’s trajectory. This combination sets up Sio to make significant strides toward its operations and its goal of contributing to a low-carbon future.”

The DLA Piper team that advised Sio was led by Daniel Kenney (Calgary) and Steve Alicanti, and it included: Chris Giordano (New York), Kira Mineroff (Short Hills), Drew Young (New York), Kurtis Weaver (Boston) and Kevin Fritz in (Toronto) and associates Anthony Delury, Jordyn Giannone, Sami Jameel and Jasmine Judge (all in New York), and Jonathan Brown (Calgary).

With more than 1,000 corporate lawyers globally, DLA Piper helps clients execute complex transactions seamlessly while supporting clients across all stages of development. The firm has been rated number one in global M&A volume for 13 consecutive years, according to Mergermarket, and ranked as a top five most active VC legal advisor in the US and number one in VC, PE and M&A in combined global deal volume according to PitchBook.