High-flying A2 Corp to split and list on exchanges

Friday 9th February 2001

By Chris Hutching

Dunedin-based bio-science company A2 Corporation chief executive David Parker says the company is well advanced with its plans for a stock exchange listing in New Zealand and Australia following a $12 million share placement.

The placement of six million shares at $2 each was made to overseas shareholders who Mr Parker described as "wealthy influential individuals" who will be strategically important when the company opens offices in the US and Europe soon.

The placement allowed the company to pay $8 million for a half-share of a 1994 patent owned by the Child Health Research Foundation, with the New Zealand Dairy Board holding the other half.

The dual listing on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges will be preceded by a 1:4 share split to create more liquidity on February 15. The seldom-traded shares are listed by stockbrokers, with last trades at $3.20 (the shares were issued last year at $1 and have gone as high as $4).

A 35% stake in the 20 million shares currently on issue is owned by researcher Corran McLachlan and 10% by Southern Capital, with smaller stakes held by a range of shareholders including the founder of both companies, Dunedin millionaire Howard Paterson.

The company owns patents to market milk with A2 protein as opposed to milk with A1 protein that Mr McLachlan's research indicates may have a link with heart disease.

Mr Parker said A2 would make its money from royalties on a DNA testing kit that will sell for $22 a cow and from royalties on the milk itself. About a third of the New Zealand dairy herd has the A2 protein and some cows have a mixture.

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