Burcon NutraScience Corporation (TSX:BU) announced that, in cooperation with an industry plant protein company, it is participating in a bid to acquire the assets of Merit Functional Foods Corporation. In association with Burcon, an industry participant has submitted a bid to acquire Merit's assets. If successful, the parties intend to restart the facility and together, strive to reach profitability.

As Burcon expects there to be competing bids, there is no assurance that the bid will be accepted by the Receiver. In accordance with the sales process dates set out by the appointed receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc, LIT., Burcon expects to further update the market when there is a material development with respect to Merit's sales process. Commenting on the receivership's sales process, Kip Underwood, Burcon's chief executive, said: 'We are pleased to participate in the bidding process for the Merit facility.

We firmly believe that Burcon's technologies and process expertise are fundamental to the Merit facility's future profitability. We continue to execute against our strategic themes: 1. Identifying additional revenue streams; 2. Getting closer to markets/customers and 3. Securing greater influence of the manufacture of our technology. We are proud of our team for working relentlessly to capitalize on this opportunity in a short amount of time.

We look forward with optimism to the outcome of the Merit sales process'.