Beijing, China
November 2, 2011
Agria Corporation, a China-based company with investments in the agriculture sector, today announced that pre-eminent seed scientist Dr Zhi Kang Li has joined the board of PGG Wrightson (PGW) as an independent director. In addition Wah Kwong Tsang and Greg Campbell, representatives of Agria Asia Investment, the company ultimately holding 50.01% of PGW have also been appointed to the PGW board of PGW.
Dr Li is the Chief Scientist, Institute of Crop Sciences / National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), in Beijing, China. He is also the Senior Molecular Geneticist/Breeder, Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Division, International Rice Research Institute and the Coordinator of the International Rice Molecular Breeding Network in Asia. He has expertise in plant molecular genetics (including gene/QTL mapping, marker-assisted plant breeding, gene QTL, discovery and genetic / molecular dissection and functional genomics of complex phenotypes), and their applications to rice cultivar development, genetics and evolution. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Genetics Society of America and the Chinese Society of Crop Science. Dr Li is the only scientist involved in the Chinese agriculture sector whose project has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The appointment of Dr Li, who has extensive experience in both Chinese and global seeds research and development, reflects the importance of seed technology to the overall PGW business and its potential for future development and expansion in China.
Wah Kwong Tsang is an independent director of Agria Corporation and is the Chairman of its Audit Committee. Prior to joining Agria, Wah Kwong was a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Hong Kong and China Firm (PwC). He has extensive experience in auditing listed and private companies in different industries and in providing support for initial public offerings and acquisition transactions.
Greg Campbell currently holds the position of CEO Ngai Tahu Holdings Group (Ngai Tahu), a co-investor with Agria and New Hope International in Agria Asia Investments. Ngai Tahu is an inter-generational investor based in New Zealand with a particular focus on South Island commercial, tourism, seafood, property and rural ventures. The involvement of Ngai Tahu is seen by the parties involved in the transaction as an important factor in the process of developing and enhancing the performance of PGW. Prior to his role with Ngai Tahu, Greg was Managing Director of Transpacific Industries NZ Limited, and CEO Australasia, where he led the purchase and integration of Waste Management NZ in 2005, along with a number of other significant New Zealand and Australian based companies.
Dr Li, Wah Kwong Tsang and Greg Campbell will serve alongside Alan Lai and Xie Tao (Chairman and CEO of Agria respectively) who both joined the board of PGW in 2009.
About Agria Corporation
Agria Corporation /quotes/zigman/487479/quotes/nls/gro GRO -6.98% is a China-based agriculture company with operations in China and internationally. In China, we engage in research and development, production and sale of seed products, including field corn seeds, edible corn seeds and vegetable seeds. We own through Agria Asia a 50.01% equity interest in PGW, New Zealand's largest agricultural services company. PGG Wrightson reported turnover of NZ$1.2 billion (US$1.0 billion) for the twelve months ended June 30, 2011. For more information about PGW, please visit www.pggwrightson.co.nz .
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