Genesis shareholders to sell BioJoule stake

Shareholders in biotechnology company Genesis Research and Development have agreed to sell their majority stake in biofuels company BioJoule.

BioJoule has been growing shrubby willow in the Taupo area and developing technology to produce ethanol as a transport fuel and lignin for high value plastics.

Genesis, which has a 65.2 per cent shareholding in BioJoule, said all of BioJoule's shareholders had agreed to sell their holdings to Pure Power Global (PPG), a renewable energy company based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sao Paulo.

Genesis would gain $3.9 million from the deal and nearly a million shares in PPG.

Genesis chief executive Stephen Hall said PPG could provide the funding and access to international markets that would enable BioJoule to become a commercial success.

"It has been difficult to raise capital or grant funding in New Zealand so international involvement is required," he said.

It was still possible a biorefinery to produce ethanol, unsulphonated lignin and xylose from shrubby willow could be built in this country when the technology had been further developed.

The cash received from the deal would be used by Genesis to fund the development of oncology and antibody programmes which were moving towards clinical development.

PPG chief executive David Milroy said his company intended to escalate the international development and deployment of BioJoule.

Genesis said the deal was subject to final approval by the board of directors, and conditional on the satisfaction of several contractual conditions expected to be settled shortly.

- NZPA