Wens is consolidating its smart-farming investments by increasing its stake in Lasseter Robot through an equity swap involving agricultural software provider Xinnong Hulian. The deal will make Xinnong Hulian a wholly owned subsidiary of Lasseter Robot, strengthening the latter’s capabilities in integrated hardware-and-software livestock farming solutions. The move also reflects Wens’ broader strategy to increase investment in AI, digitalisation, and agricultural technology.
Chinese livestock producer Wens is beginning to consolidate its smart-farming investments, with robotics company Lasseter Robot emerging as a potential platform business for the group in this field.
According to a recent announcement by Wens, the company plans to use its 39.2% stake in Guangdong Xinnong Hulian Technology Co., Ltd. to subscribe for equity in another associate, Lasseter Robot (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.. Following the transaction, the newly acquired stake will account for about 1.02% of Lasseter Robot’s registered capital.
The transaction values Xinnong Hulian at CNY 80 million (USD 11.14 million) and Lasseter Robot at CNY 3 billion (USD 417.83 million).
Xinnong Hulian’s 2 other shareholders will carry out similar equity swaps. Kingdee Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., which owns 40.8%, will receive about 1.06% of Lasseter Robot after the transaction, while Shenzhen Xinnong Tianxia Investment Partnership, which owns 20%, will receive about 0.35%.
As a result, Xinnong Hulian will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Lasseter Robot.
Bringing software and robotics together
Founded in 2019, Xinnong Hulian was positioned as an agricultural and livestock digital services provider under Kingdee Group (00268.HK), a well-known Chinese enterprise management software developer.
Kingdee and Wens initially each owned 50% of the company. Xinnong Tianxia was later introduced as an employee shareholding platform, resulting in the ownership structure in place before the current deal.
Prior to the transaction, Jiang Rongjin, vice president and board secretary of Wens, served as chairman of Xinnong Hulian. Lin Jianxing, vice president and chief financial officer of Wens, served as a director.
The financial profiles of the 2 businesses differ considerably.
Xinnong Hulian generated revenue of CNY 50.87 million (USD 7.08 million) in 2025, while net profit was less than CNY 170,000 (USD 23,676). In the first half of 2026, revenue was about CNY 21.19 million (USD 2.95 million), while the company recorded a loss of more than CNY 6.60 million (USD 919,220).
At the end of June 2026, Xinnong Hulian had total assets of about CNY 17.96 million (USD 2.50 million) and net assets of about CNY 7.12 million (USD 991,643).
Lasseter Robot, by contrast, reported revenue of CNY 277 million (USD 38.58 million) last year and net profit of CNY 76.06 million (USD 10.59 million). During the first 7 months of 2026, revenue reached CNY 255 million (USD 35.52 million), with net profit of CNY 43.69 million (USD 6.08 million).
Its net assets stood at CNY 269 million (USD 37.47 million) at the end of July.
Wens remains largest shareholder
Wens made a strategic investment in Lasseter Robot in 2024, at one stage holding close to 38% of the company.
After Lasseter Robot brought in additional capital from Lihua and Guangken, among others, early this year, Wens’ stake was diluted to about 35%. It nevertheless remained the largest shareholder, well ahead of founder Cao Jingguan, who owns 23%.
Following the latest equity swap, Wens’ holding will increase to around 36%.
Wens also has substantial representation on Lasseter Robot’s board. Jiang Rongjin and 2 other Wens vice presidents, Zhao Liang and Sun Jiankuan, are directors of the robotics company.
The commercial links between the 2 companies are equally strong. Of Lasseter Robot’s CNY 255 million (USD 35.52 million) in revenue during the first 7 months of this year, more than CNY 220 million (USD 30.64 million) came from related-party transactions with Wens.
Wens’ deployment of the technology has also supported Lasseter Robot’s expansion. On June 30, the company’s 10,000th rail-mounted vision robot rolled off the production line. It became the first AI-plus-livestock-robotics company in the sector to achieve commercial deliveries at the 10,000-unit level.
Wens said the purpose of the equity swap is to integrate resources among the parties involved in its investment projects, make better use of their complementary strengths, and support the long-term, healthy development of those investments.
Following the deal, Wens said the strengths of Lasseter Robot and Xinnong Hulian can be combined, allowing them to establish a closer working relationship and improve the overall competitiveness of the projects in which Wens has invested.
The acquisition also points towards a broader role for Lasseter Robot. By adding Xinnong Hulian, it can move beyond being primarily a livestock-robotics manufacturer towards providing integrated smart-farming solutions combining software and hardware. That would give the business a broader portfolio and a more coherent valuation narrative for the capital market.
Technology and digital intelligence
Technology is becoming a wider strategic theme for Wens as well.
During a conference call on August 26 to discuss the company’s 2026 half-year results, Jiang specifically outlined the operating strategy that Wens intends to continue pursuing: technological progress, digital intelligence, quality upgrading, and culture-driven development.
Jiang Rongjin
Jiang said the company has consistently followed its founder’s philosophy of “using science to get practical things done” and believes technological innovation will be one of the main areas of future competition.
Against that background, Wens plans to gradually increase annual research expenditure from around 1% of revenue at present to about 3%.
At the same time, Jiang said, “AI has become a theme of our time and is a direction every company must face.”
In recent years, Wens has continued to increase its digital investment and deepen cooperation and learning with leading technology companies. Jiang said the company has gradually identified practical routes for implementation.
Chief scientist Wu Zhenfang is leading the development of Wens’ overall “AI for Science” system, for which the company has established a clear implementation path and objectives. Platform development is progressing according to plan, and an intelligent agent for genetic evaluation in the breeding field has already achieved workflow integration.
AgriPost previously reported that Wens invested CNY 815 million (USD 113.51 million) in research and development in 2025, about 13% more than the CNY 721 million (USD 100.42 million) spent in 2024.
R&D spending as a proportion of revenue increased from 0.68% to 0.78%. The work mainly focused on livestock and poultry breeding, digitally enabled farming, feed nutrition, animal health, environmental ecology, and food processing.
In digitally enabled farming, Wens last year carried out AI-related research covering full-cycle engineering and construction management. The aim is to establish a set of AI-assisted tools suitable for the company’s current construction-management operations and to improve both efficiency and quality.
Wens also focused on 3 core indicators – intelligent precision marketing, broiler breed deployment, and intelligent risk control. Through research into and development of big-data-enhanced analytical technologies and applications, the company aims to put more of its business data to use in intelligent marketing and risk control, supporting sales decisions across its operations.
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