Verenium Completes Amendment to 8% Senior Convert...( CAMBRIDGE Mass. July 6 FirstCall/ --...)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM) announced today that the agreement to amend the $29.5 million of outstanding 8% Senior Convertible Notes due April 1, 2012 (the "Notes") entered into and announced on July 1, 2009 is effective as of 8:00 a.m. today. The Company has entered into Convertible Note Amendment Agreements with holders of 87% of the Notes, which is above the required 66.67% necessary to amend the outstanding Notes. Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as an advisor for this transaction.

"We are pleased to have been able to work with our 8% noteholders to amended the terms of the notes, removing or modifying several restrictions that limited the Company's financial and operational flexibility," said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium. "This along with the recent news that our joint venture with our partner BP has been selected to enter into the due diligence phase of the DOE Loan Guarantee Program, puts us in a much stronger position as we look toward securing the necessary financing required for our first commercial facility."

In exchange for lowering the conversion price of the Notes from $2.13 to $1.74, the benefits Verenium receives from the amendment include:

• Modifications providing Verenium with greater flexibility to engage in certain financing and other strategic transactions, including the ability to incur indebtedness or liens and engage in restructuring transactions involving its 5.50% convertible senior notes;
• Modifications that allow the company to raise capital with less dilution to the existing shareholders; and
• Clarifications that provide for interest and make-whole payments to be made in shares of our common stock.