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Rehovot, Israel
April 30, 2008
Evogene Ltd. (TASE: EVGN) today announced that
AquAgro fund L.P, a
venture capital fund focused on innovative water, agriculture,
food and alternative energy technologies will invest $2,000,000
in the Company in a private
placement. AquAgro will acquire 1,107,700 newly issued ordinary
shares at a price of 6.5 NIS ($1.86) per share, and will in
addition receive 651,584 warrants to purchase 651,584 ordinary
shares at a price of 11.05 NIS ($3.16) per share.
Under the terms of the recently signed investment agreement,
Evogene will also obtain the right, exercisable at its election
until May 31st , 2011, to issue additional ordinary shares to
AquAgro at a price of 4.5NIS per share, up to a total additional
NIS investment by AquAgro in Evogene equivalent at such time to
$2,000,000.
"In view of AquAgro’s investment focus and their managers’
expertise in these fields, we are very pleased to have them join
Evogene as a major shareholder, holding approximately five
percent of the Company’s shares after this purchase”, stated
Ofer Haviv, Evogene’s President and CEO. “The two organizations
fully share a commitment to address major problems already
facing the critically important worldwide alternative energy and
food and feed fields, and these problems are certain to become
more extreme in view of continuing population growth and global
climate changes", Mr. Haviv concluded.
"The AquAgro fund is focusing on food and 'smart' agro in view
of its managers’ long term experience in these fields and the
understanding that food and water are the next fields to adopt
new technologies,” stated Nir Belzer, Managing Partner of the
Fund. “We seek out established companies with excellent growth
and development potential, and therefore we are extremely
enthusiastic about this investment in Evogene , a company we are
confident is bringing a unique and powerful approach to key
problems in these fields."
Evogene is a leading
developer of improved plants for the ag-biotech and biofuel
industries. The Company’s proprietary product development
platform combines world leading computational gene discovery
technologies, high throughput selection systems and advanced
breeding methods. The platform’s computational biology component
- the ATHLETE - is based on Compugen's (Nasdaq: CGEN) in-silico
predictive discovery capabilities. Evogene's current programs
focus on yield under normal and various environmental stress
conditions (such as drought), fertilizer utilization and the
improvement of plants specifically for biofuel uses. Evogene has
collaboration and licensing agreements with world leading
companies in the ag-biotech and alternative energy industries.
Evogene's headquarters in Rehovot, Israel, and is traded on the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE:EVGN).
AquAgro Fund, L.P. is a
venture capital fund focused on Israel’s innovative water and
agriculture technologies, as well as other innovative clean
technologies. The Fund was formed by Gaon Agro Industries,
AquAgro GbR Germany and Ainsbury Properties Ltd. together with
Hillel Milo and Nir Belzer who have extensive investment
experience with Israeli technology companies and proven track
record of providing superior returns to investors. The Fund
Managers bring substantial experience in the field of R&D,
marketing and management of the portfolio, and are assisted by a
team of experienced research and operational personnel. |
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