RiceBran receives definitive judgment of R$3.6 million related to 2008 purchase of Irgovel

Published: 6-Apr-2015

Judgment paves the way to begin the process of releasing monies held in escrow


RiceBran Technologies (RBT), a global leader in the production and marketing of value added products derived from rice bran, has announced that it has received an arbitral award of R$ 3.6 million from a Brazilian arbitration panel related to the company's 2008 acquisition of Irgovel.

An escrow account of approximately US$ 1.9 million was established in a San Francisco bank in 2008 related to RBT's acquisition of Irgovel.

Pursuant to the binding arbitration clause in the final purchase agreement, any parties involved in disputes related to the purchase agreed to settle those disputes through binding arbitration. The arbitration panel has ruled in favour of the company and has initially awarded R$3.6 million to RBT. This award paves the way for RBT to begin the process of releasing monies from that escrow to be used to fund operations at Irgovel.

RBT is seeking an additional amount of approximately R$ 400,000 for arbitration costs and expenses along with additional amounts for interest. RBT has provided the necessary documentation to the arbitration panel to recover those additional amounts.

W. John Short, CEO and President, commented: 'We are pleased to have finally obtained this award of the arbitration panel. While we still have work to do to achieve the release of escrow funds, this judgment goes a long way towards accomplishing that goal. We look forward to putting that money to work to help us grow our Irgovel operations for the benefit of our company and its stockholders.'

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