On 29 October, Intrexon Corp. sold all of its shares in genetically engineered salmon supplier AquaBounty Technologies to another firm controlled by Intrexon’s CEO.
Intrexon sold 8.24 million shares of common stock in AquaBounty for nearly USD 21.6 million (EUR 19 million) to TS AquaCulture LLC, according to a United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Based in Virginia, TS AquaCulture is managed by Third Security, a venture capital firm led by Intrexon Chairman and CEO Randal Kirk.
Kirk and certain shareholders affiliated with him own 46.2 percent of Intrexon's voting stock, while Kirk maintains a 42 percent stake in AquaBounty, comprised of more than 9 million shares, Seeking Alpha reported.
The purchase agreement was unanimously approved by the independent members of Intrexon’s board of directors. The agreement was entered into in connection with the acquisition by Intrexon’s purchase of shares of AquaBounty’s common stock in 2012, which made up 47.56 percent of the company’s outstanding share capital from Linnaeus Capital Partners B.V. and Tethys Aquaculture Canada, Inc. (doing business as the Center for Aquaculture Technology Canada), the company’s former major stockholders, AquaBounty said in a SEC filing.
Intrexon and AquaBounty did not respond to SeafoodSource’s request for comment.
Analysts at Simply Wall St. recently determined that AquaBounty is a good stock investment. As of June, 2019 AquaBounty’s debt was US 4.63 million (EUR 4.1 million), but it also had US 10.4 million (EUR 9.3 million) in cash to offset that, Simply Wall St. reported. AquaBounty can also boast US 3.47 million (EUR 3.1 million) more liquid assets than total liabilities.
“This short-term liquidity is a sign that AquaBounty Technologies could probably pay off its debt with ease, as its balance sheet is far from stretched. Simply put, the fact that AquaBounty Technologies has more cash than debt is arguably a good indication that it can manage its debt safely,” Simply Wall St. said.
The report also noted AquaBounty does not yet have significant operating revenue, as it seeks to find a place in the market for its GE salmon.
