KEY POINTS:
State-owned science company AgResearch announced today it has become the official owner of Canesis Network Ltd's business assets.
Based at Lincoln near Christchurch, Canesis is a research and development company focused on wool and other innovative textiles, as well as the science of new materials.
It was previously 74.9 per cent owned by Wool Equities Ltd (WEL) with a 25.1 per cent shareholding by the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand Trust (WRONZ).
AgResearch chairman Rick Christie today said the organisation had undertaken a thorough process of due diligence which included receiving approval from the Government for the purchase.
"This is an important event for sheep farmers because if we can help reverse the fortunes of wool, the profitability of a sheep farm will significantly improve," he said.
"However, there are no silver bullets here. It took 20 years of steady effort to take New Zealand lamb from being in decline to being a world-beating product. We are running a marathon, not a 100 metre sprint."
Most of the 101 former Canesis staff today joining the AgResearch Lincoln campus will make up a new AgResearch Textiles group, headed by Dr Robert Finch, formerly Canesis Network's general manager for research and development.
Dr Finch said that joining the country's biggest Crown Research Institute would open many opportunities for innovative R&D and commercialisation.
- NZPA
