Davis-based Arcadia Biosciences Inc. is looking at strategic options for its future, which could be anything from an acquisition or a sale, merger or asset sale.
Arcadia (Nasdaq: RKDA), which makes and markets plant-based health and wellness products, has engaged Lake Street Capital Markets LLC, an investment bank based in Minneapolis, to be its financial adviser.
"This review is in line with Project Greenfield, our three-year plan to maximize the company’s potential and drive shareholder value," said Arcadia CEO Stan Jacot, in a news release. "We see this as an opportune time to undertake these efforts after closing the second quarter of 2023 in an excellent cash position and streamlining our operating expenses in anticipation of challenging economic headwinds."
The company said it's exploring its strategic options, and it's not setting a timeline or requirement for any outcome of the strategic review.
By announcing the review, however, Arcadia does send a signal that some of its science, intellectual property and even the company itself could be in play.
Arcadia is part of a cluster of agtech, food tech and biologics companies based in the Sacramento region around the University of California Davis.
Arcadia shares rose 22 cents to $4.85 on Thursday, following the announcement of its strategic review. As of June 30, Arcadia had about $18.8 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The company said its strategic options “may include the potential for an acquisition, company sale, merger, business combination, asset sale, joint venture, licensing arrangement, capital raise or other strategic transaction.”
Neither Arcadia nor Lake Street Capital Markets responded to requests for comment.
Arcadia was founded in 2002 to use advanced laboratory techniques in biotechnology to increase crop yields, crop quality and other beneficial traits to feed the world. It was meant to bring promising academic research through the so-called “valley of death” between the university environment and profitable commercialization. Its larger mission was to make healthier foods available at a lower cost or under poor conditions. Arcadia worked, for example, to develop plants that need less water and tolerate salt, heat and herbicides. It went public with an initial public offering in 2015 that raised about $68 million.
In recent years, however, Arcadia has moved from being a scientific research company to being an ingredient company and now to being a producer of branded products derived from its research.
As part of its Project Greenfield, Arcadia said it is exiting its body care brands ProVault and SoulSpring. It is focusing on its GoodWheat portfolio of products of high-fiber, high-protein wheat from strains it developed and patented.
Arcadia will announce its second-quarter financial results on Aug. 10.
