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Blis Technologies has settled a patent dispute with partner Bluestone Pharma, and an Austrian manufacturer, Lactosan. In September last year, the NZX-listed probiotic strain manufacturer reported it was aware a customer had filed a patent for the Blis K12 and Blis M18 fermentation process in the US, Europe, and China. Blis Technologies chief executive Scott Johnson said at the time it wasn't common to patent fermentation processes as it put trade secrets into the public domain. Today, Blis reported an agreement had been reached to jointly own the patents alongside Bluestone Pharma and Lactosan. As part of the arrangement, the parties agreed to release each other of all claims and causes of action. Blis also reported that a five-year extension to an existing supply agreement with Bluestone Pharma, set to expire this month, had been renegotiated.
NZX regulatory arm NZ RegCo put TruScreen Group's shares into a trading halt just after 10am on Wednesday. It said it applied the halt while it talked with the company about the capital raise that was first announced on May 29. On that date, the dual-listed Kiwi cervical cancer screening company opened a $3 million capital raise at 2.2 cents a share, six months after its board warned it might not survive without raising cash. On June 3, it reported it had commitments from new and existing investors for an initial placement of 107 million shares, meaning it had raised $2,354,750 before costs. The company said about 80.9 million of the shares would be issued under its existing 15% placement capacity, with the balance subject to shareholder approval at a July 11 meeting. The company last traded at 2c. The trading halt will remain in place until the earlier of an announcement from TruScreen on its capital raise, or the market opening on Friday.
HW Richardson Group director Scott O’Donnell has been appointed to the KiwiRail board. Rail Minister Winston Peters said Richardson Group owned 46 companies across six sectors, including road freight. O’Donnell, KiwiRail chair Sue Tindal and the Treasury had established a conflict-of-interest management plan which would be reviewed and monitored. Given the company’s road freight business was largely south of Oamaru, O’Donnell would recuse himself from any KiwiRail activities in this part of New Zealand. “Mr O’Donnell has resigned as chair of HW Richardson-owned Dynes Transport but remains on its board, noting this company is receiving government co-investment for a rail siding into a new Mosgiel road and rail freight hub,” Peters said.
The chief executive of the NZX's funds management business, Smart, has quit after two years in the role. The NZX said on Wednesday that Anna Scott had resigned to lead the New Zealand office of a global financial services group from October 1. "NZX thanks Ms Scott for her contribution and wishes her well for the future in her new role," a statement said. Scott joined the NZX in September 2023, having previously held roles at Hobson Wealth and JPMorgan. During her tenure at the NZX, the funds management business was rebranded from Smartshares to Smart. Smart's funds under management grew 27% to $13.5 billion during 2024.
Dairy prices declined sharply at the latest overnight auction. Key export commodity whole milk powder slipped 5.1% to US$3859 per metric tonne. The overall GDT index fell 4.1% to an average price of US$4274 per metric tonne. It marked the fourth consecutive decline at the dairy auction following recent gains.
In late May, dairy giant Fonterra announced an opening forecast Farmgate Milk Price for the 2025/26 season of $10 per kg of milk solids, driven by stable market demand. Chief executive Miles Hurrell said it was committed to delivering strong shareholder returns through earnings and the farmgate price. “Looking at the season ahead, we expect this demand to continue for now, but we acknowledge the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and the potential for a wider series of outcomes across the season.”