TIDMVRS
RNS Number : 0878E
Versarien PLC
25 February 2020
25 February 2020
Versarien plc
("Versarien", the "Company" or the "Group")
Corporate update
Versarien plc (AIM: VRS), the advanced materials engineering
group, is pleased to provide an update on its recent activities, in
particular in relation to its planned Chinese expansion, its
subsidiary Gnanomat S.L. , and its collaborations.
In doing so, the Company continues to follow the strategy
detailed in its Annual Report, of being an IP led advanced
engineering materials group that seeks to utilise proprietary
technology to create innovative new engineering solutions. The
Company intends to deliver this strategy in three ways: by
identifying and acquiring majority stakes in companies capable of
commercialising graphene applications; signing application
development agreements with potential customers; and undertaking
the actual production of graphene for specific applications.
The global development of graphene within applications remains
at an early stage. In line with this the Company's application
development agreements are subject to both internal budget and time
constraints, mutually agreed amendments, as well as simple
engineering challenges. There can be no certainty as to when an
application development agreement will lead to a financial benefit
for the Group as this is ultimately within the control of the
end-customer. However, the Company is committed to updating
shareholders as appropriate.
The Company's Interim Report, released on 12 December 2019 (the
"Interim Report"), set out the status of the Company's
collaborations which have been the subject of previous
announcements. Going forward, the Company intends to use its
interim and full year results announcements to provide updates on
the status of various collaborations and will not make
announcements between these unless a disclosure obligation
arises.
Apart from the projects listed below the status of the remaining
projects remains unchanged from the information provided in the
Interim Report.
China
As outlined in the Interim Report discussions with the Beijing
Institute of Graphene Technology Co. Ltd ("BIGT") and the China
International Graphene Industry Union ("CIGIU"), together with
other related and government entities in China are still
ongoing.
The term sheet with BIGT announced on 15 April 2019 ("Term
Sheet") envisaged that BIGT would provide funding to Versarien for
its recently established wholly owned subsidiary ("WFOE") and other
corporate purposes in the form of an equity investment, providing
BIGT with a holding of up to 15% of the issued share capital of the
Company. It is now envisaged that funding of up to 15% of the
issued share capital of the Company will be provided by other
parties in collaboration with BIGT and CIGIU to facilitate, so far
as is possible within the existing local regulatory regime, the
transfer of cash offshore from China.
Whilst the formal negotiations with BIGT and CIGIU have taken
longer than initially envisaged, they continue to be based on the
term sheet signed with BIGT and announced on 15 April 2019. There
is no certainty that a formal agreement will be completed with any
party, nor the specific terms that any such agreement may take, but
Versarien has been advised by BIGT, CIGIU and their affiliates that
it remains their intention to facilitate funding for Versarien and
for a joint venture to be established.
Further notifications and updates regarding the joint venture
and associated financing will be made in the event that a
development occurs that is sufficiently significant to require a
regulatory notification.
Gnanomat S.L. ("Gnanomat")
Gnanomat continues to develop its energy storage technology in
conjunction with other Group companies. It has performed
independent tests of prototype hybrid energy storage devices
incorporating graphene. The results of these tests have showed a
significant electrochemical performance improvement over current
market standards and, Versarien believes, confirms the feasibility
of the Company's technical approach to bring it to industrial
applications. In this regard, Gnanomat is in discussions with two
supercapacitor manufacturers to sign collaborations to introduce
the Company's materials into the electrodes of the manufacturer's
devices. The Company notes that there can be no guarantee that any
such discussions will progress to more advanced stages or that any
agreement will be formalised.
Additionally, initial efforts have also been put into different
energy storage applications such as metal-air batteries with
encouraging results at lab scale. These results have brought
metal-air batteries to the attention of a number of manufacturers
that are showing interest in collaborating with Gnanomat.
Gnanomat has been invited to become a member of the European
Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP), Batteries Europe.
As announced on 10 February 2020, the Company c ontinues to
provide funding to Gnanomat, its 62% owned subsidiary, as
necessary, to ensure its continued development. Since acquisition,
Gnanomat has sought to control its costs whilst still developing
its technology, which has meant that Versarien was able to vary the
initially envisaged intra-group loan as previously disclosed on 25
September 2018. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company has not
loaned any of the EUR1,250,000 that was originally contemplated in
September 2018.
Versarien now expects to provide a loan of EUR300,000 this month
to Gnanomat and continue to fund the working capital of Gnanomat,
as it does in the normal course of business for all its
subsidiaries.
Collaboration Updates
The C ompany provides the following updates on collaborations
previously announced and notes that these remain at a development
phase and there can be no guarantee that these will result in
revenue generating contracts .
Agreement with global apparel manufacturer, MAS Innovation
(Private) Limited ("MAS")
Following the signing of the Commercial Partnership Agreement on
27 November 2019 with MAS, discussions with international brands
for use of the graphene enhanced textiles have commenced. These
discussions are aimed at introducing the graphene ink enhanced
materials into new garment ranges with enhanced thermal
conductivity and wicking properties, as well as impact protection
wearables.
Consumer goods collaboration for polymer structures in
plastics
Following the announcement made on 29 May 2018, after laboratory
testing and optimi s ation of the graphene parameters, the next
stage of this collaboration is to field test a pilot run of up to
20,000 bottles.
Construction materials collaboration with AECOM
Following the launch of the AECOM CNCT Arch at Network Rail's
facility in Bristol, in July 2019, the product has now completed
its testing phase. The data from these tests has been positive and
Versarien has recruited the AECOM project lead to spearhead
commercial progress on the Company's behalf in the UK and other
regions.
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED TO
CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE
MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE
IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Enquiries:
Versarien
Neill Ricketts, CEO
Chris Leigh, CFO +44 (0)1242 269 122
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated
Adviser and Joint Broker)
Ewan Leggat, Soltan Tagiev +44 (0)20 3470 0470
Berenberg (Joint Broker)
Mark Whitmore, Simon Cardron +44 (0)20 3207 7800
Yellow Jersey (Investor Relations)
Charles Goodwin
Georgia Colkin
Henry Wilkinson +44 (0)20 3004 9512
About Versarien
Versarien plc (AIM: VRS), is an advanced engineering materials
group. Leveraging proprietary technology, the Group creates
innovative engineering solutions for its clients in a diverse range
of industries. Versarien has seven subsidiaries operating under two
divisions:
Graphene and Plastics
2-DTech Ltd, which specialises in the supply, characterisation
and early stage development of graphene products. 2-DTech is based
at the Graphene Innovation Engineering Centre, a GBP60 million
facility set up to work in collaboration with industry partners to
create, test and optimise new concepts for the delivery of graphene
to the market. www.2-dtech.com
AAC Cyroma Limited, which specialises in the supply of
vacuum-formed and injection-moulded products to the automotive,
construction, utilities and retail industry sectors. Using
Versarien's existing graphene manufacturing capabilities, AAC has
the ability to produce graphene-enhanced plastic products.
www.aaccyroma.co.uk
Cambridge Graphene Limited, supplies novel inks based on
graphene and related materials, using patented
processes to develop graphene materials technology. www.cambridgegraphene.com
Gnanomat S.L. ("GNA"), based in the Parque Cientifico Madrid,
Spain, is a company capable of utilising Versarien's graphene
products in an environmentally friendly, scalable production
process for energy storage devices that offer high power density,
fast recharging and very long lifetimes for use in electrical
vehicles and portable electronics products. www.gnanomat.com
Versarien Graphene Inc - based in Texas, is the recently
incorporated sales business for the UK's graphene products.
Hard Wear and Metallic Products
Versarien Technologies Limited has developed an additive process
for creating advanced micro-porous metals targeting the thermal
management industry and supplies extruded aluminium.
www.versarien-technologies.co.uk
Total Carbide Limited, a leading manufacturer in sintered
tungsten carbide for applications in arduous environments such as
the oil and gas industry. www.totalcarbide.com
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END
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