Origin Agritech Limited, agricultural biotechnology company headquartered in China and domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, announced that its shareholders approved the agreement for the sale of its proprietary China-based commercial corn seed production and distribution business to Beijing Shihui Agricultural Development Co, Ltd, an internet company providing agricultural products and technology services. The transaction was initially announced in September, 2016, and expected to close in the second half of 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
CEO of the BVI company Dr. Bill Niebur commented on the shareholder approval, saying that this sale is a critical milestone in repositioning Origin's commercial seed business. He also said that now the new company will focus on "further enhancing our leading agricultural biotechnology and corn seed breeding programs. As previously indicated, the proceeds will enable the company to accelerate the licensing of our biotech traits and elite seed germplasm to industry partners in China and build out our international seed-tech company model."
