The advanced engineering materials group will acquire 85% of Manchester University's graphene company.
UK-based Versarien has entered an agreement to acquire 85% of the issued share capital in 2-DTech, a graphene company wholly owned by Manchester University. The acquisition is worth £440,000 ($742,000) and will be settled by a mix of cash and new ordinary shares. At the same time, Versarien announced it intends itself on raising £5.5m through the placing of these new ordinary shares at £0.26 ($0.43) each.
2D-Tech specialises in the supply, characterisation and early stage development of graphene products. It is a spin-out from the university’s Condensed Matter Research Group, led by professor Sir Andre Geim and professor Sir Kostya Novoselov, who were both awarded the 2010 Nobel prize in Physics for first isolating graphene.
Versarien hopes 2-DTech’s technology will enable a significant enhancement of its product range, and commercialise market opportunities for graphene in the UK. The company intends to establish the largest production facility in the UK, while scaling up the technology in collaboration with the university. Versarien will initially select two 12 month rapid commercialisation projects to advance with Manchester University and discuss further collaborative projects.
Versarien, Manchester University and Branson Belle, Chief Technology Officer and current director of 2-DTech, will also enter into a royalty agreement whereby Versarien will pay the university 94.8 % and Belle 5.2% of up to £300,000, based upon a payment of 5% of 2-DTech’s gross annual revenues. The royalty agreement expires after 20 years.
Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien, said: “The acquisition of 2-DTech coupled with the planned collaboration agreements with Manchester University, the established home of graphene, marks a significant opportunity for Versarien to progress its product range with highly complementary technologies. Versarien is already manufacturing over 37 tonnes per year of complex powder at its Total Carbide plant and combining this know-how with 2-DTech’s expertise, research facilities, and rights to intellectual property makes the early commercialisation of graphene related products far more likely in the near term on an industrial scale.”