Neptune Penetrates Asia by Partnering with Chinese SKFC
‘‘We are extremely pleased to partner with Neptune as it is the desire of the Chinese government to develop value-added products from primary fishing industry’’ stated Tang Qiqing, Chairman of the Board of SKFC.
Seo 21 2011 --- Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. announces the conclusion of a Memorendum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai KaiChuang Deep Sea Fisheries Co., Ltd. (SKFC) (together the “Parties”) to form a 50%/50% Joint Venture named Neptune-SKFC Biotechnology that will manufacture and commercialize Neptune’s krill products in Asia, the world's largest market for such products.
The initial cost of the project will reach up to USD $30,000,000 (financed be Chinese Banks and the Parties) to realize the construction of a state of the art production facility using Neptune Proprietary Production Technology in China as well as for immediately developing a strong commercial distribution network for Asia. According to the agreement, SKFC will supply all the raw material and Neptune will provide a license to Neptune-SKFC Biotechnology allowing it rights of use of its Production Technology IP for the Asian Market in return of a significant up front payment as well as for royalty payments.
‘‘We are extremely pleased to partner with Neptune as it is the desire of the Chinese government to develop value-added products from primary fishing industry’’ stated Tang Qiqing, Chairman of the Board of SKFC.
‘‘After evaluating different Companies in the krill oil business, it became obvious to us that Neptune had the best Proprietary Production Technology and IP protection and became our preferred choice. We are pleased to have concluded this MOU as both parties negotiated in the best interest of their respective shareholders’’ stated Zhou Jinwang, Director of the Board of SKFC.
‘‘This major milestone was part of SKFC’s development plan in order to become the world's largest krill fishing company. This partnership should generate production and sales of up to 500MT of krill oil over the next five years.’’ stated Xie Feng, Chief Executive Officer of SKFC.
