MEDIA STATEMENT

Landcatch were advised on 27th November by the Board of Australis that they have entered into a due diligence phase with a third party for the purchase of the Australis Landcatch SA egg production operations in Chile.  You may be aware of information regarding these developments.  This document aims to clarify the position of Landcatch in Chile.

Landcatch Natural Selection Ltd had been involved in negotiations with Australis for some time over ownership of the Australis Landcatch SA broodstock and production assets in Chile, but ultimately a Norwegian competitor has significantly exceeded what we considered to be a fair and reasonable offer. The press announcements indicate that the Landcatch broodstock be replaced with competitor stock, suggesting that this is simply an aggressive move to capture market share.

Landcatch has a long history in Chile: establishing pedigree broodstock in the 1990’s; adapting the Landcatch brand to Chilean production conditions; pioneering high health broodstock production in fresh water; introducing markers for IPN resistance; and aiming to meet the needs of the Chilean producer using world-class genetics applied locally in Chile.

Landcatch Natural Selection, supported by the global resources of Hendrix Genetics, will continue to work side-by-side with our other partners in Chile to continue extending our genetic services and egg production operations as the industry expands in the coming years.

Landcatch is a globally recognised strain with high performance in a range of commercial environments, and a reputation for delivering innovation and novel genetic technology aimed at the needs of producers.  Landcatch has also led the development of higher biosecurity standards with eggs produced from high health operations.

Landcatch will stay closely involved with the Chilean industry aiming to help our partners improve the strains available to Chilean producers by bringing forward new technology and setting high biosecurity standards.   Landcatch looks forward to making further announcements in the near future regarding the continued growth of business in Chile.

Neil Manchester                                                                                              Dr Alan Tinch

Managing Director                                                                                           Director of Genetics

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