Pacific Land buys stake in biotech coffee company
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Pacific Land and Coffee Corp. has entered the biotech arena with a deal to acquire a Waialua company that is developing caffeine-free coffee plants.
Honolulu-based Pacific Land has acquired 71.5 percent of Integrated Coffee Technologies Inc. by issuing more than 7.6 million shares of stock.
Pacific Land said it will make an offer to the remaining shareholders of privately held Integrated Coffee Technologies to acquire all outstanding shares at the same exchange ratio.
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Pacific Land and Coffee Corp. has acquired 71.5 percent of Integrated Coffee Technologies Inc. in an all-stock deal that will give Pacific Land access to state-of-the-art biotechnology being used to develop caffeine-free coffee plants.
The deal between the two Oahu-based companies sent Pacific Land and Coffee's stock soaring more than 4,000 percent to $1.75 yesterday from 4 cents on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. The company implemented a 1-for-3 reverse split in September.
Pacific Land , which issued more than 7.6 million shares of stock in the transaction, said it will make an offer to the remaining shareholders of privately held Integrated Coffee Technologies to acquire all outstanding shares at the same exchange ratio. A 100 percent buyout of Integrated Coffee Technologies would result in approximately 15.4 million outstanding shares of Pacific Land and Coffee.
Integrated Coffee Technologies, based in Waialua, also is developing coffee plants in which the ripening process can be controlled by the grower to improve harvest and processing efficiency.
Honolulu-based Pacific Land and Coffee sells private-label coffee to wholesale and retail accounts nationally and internationally, and brokers green bean coffee internationally under the trade name Coscina Brothers Coffee.
Last December, Pacific Land and Coffee acquired Coscina Brothers Coffee, which had been Pacific Land and Coffee's principal supplier. The acquisition of Coscina Brothers gave Pacific Land and Coffee access to the exclusive contract that Coscina Brothers had with Dole Food Co. to roast and package coffee produced from land in Waialua.
"The acquisition of Integrated Coffee Technologies is not only complementary to our existing business but provides our shareholders with the opportunity to participate in a revolution in the coffee industry," said Dale Nielsen, chief executive of Pacific Land and Coffee.
Pacific Land and Coffee, founded in 2003, had sales of $122,120 and a net loss of $52,841 in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
In its most recent quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Pacific Land and Coffee had sales of $59,737 and a net loss of $95,548.