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MajorsJan 02, 2019
Lab-Grown Diamond Co. Scio Is Being Sold
A Nevada company is in the process of purchasing the assets of the Greenville, South Carolina-based diamond grower formerly known as Apollo.
Greenville, S.C.—A Nevada company has purchased Scio, the lab-grown diamond producer based in Greenville, South Carolina.
According to a Dec. 11 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Adamas One Corp. agreed to pay $3.3 million in the 18 months after closing to pay off Scio’s debts; issue to Scio 350,000 shares of Adamas common stock guaranteed at a minimum of $2 per share; and issue 900,000 shares of Adamas stock to Scio shareholders.
The purchase is subject to approval by Scio’s shareholders and the filing of a registration statement for the Adamas shares.
As of Wednesday morning, no further filings had been made with the SEC in connection with the transaction.
Scio is the lab-grown diamond company formerly known as Apollo Diamond Corp. out of Boston and, as Apollo, was one of the first to begin commercial sales of gem-quality man-made diamonds.
In 2011, the company went public as Scio Diamond Technology Corp. and moved its operations from Boston to South Carolina.
Later it was alleged that former Apollo and Scio executive Edward S. Adams of Minneapolis, the son-in-law of Apollo founder Robert Linares who was forced out of the company in June 2014, had engineered the shift to cover up the fact that he had been embezzling millions from Apollo and Scio.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota charged Adams, a resident of Minneapolis, with 14 counts of fraud in March 2017. His case is ongoing.
Investors have sunk millions into Scio over the past few years, including a $2.5 million infusion in December 2014 and $1.57 million the following September.
The company was one of the 11 founding members of the International Grown Diamond Association, a not-for-profit formed to represent the interest of lab-grown diamond companies and, according to the IGDA website, it still is a member.
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