Versarien said South Korea’s Graphene Lab had made a £1.93m strategic investment in the company as part of an agreement for the companies to work together.
Graphene Lab has bought 4.28m new shares in Versarien at an issue price of 45p a share and will own 2.2% of Versarien. Versarien shares closed at 38.4p on Thursday.
Versarien shares rose 14.3% to 44p at 08:22 GMT.
Graphene Lab will be licensed to use 14 patents acquired by Versarien in December exclusively in South Korea for a 5% royalty on sales payable to Versarien. Graphene Lab also has the right to use certain Versarien trademarks for a 2% sales royalty.
The Korean group will also buy 15% of the shares in Versarien Korea and will have a representative on Versarien Korea’s five-strong board. Versarien Korea is leasing part of Graphene Lab’s new premises and the companies will share equipment with Graphene Lab providing operator and maintenance support.
Versarien’s deal with Graphene Lab follows the AIM-traded group’s acquisition of graphene production assets and intellectual property from South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace in December.
Neill Ricketts, Versarien’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have secured this agreement with Graphene Lab, which will enable us to advance our plans in South Korea, following the acquisition in December. I am also pleased that our partnership with Graphene Lab has been further reinforced by the stake they have taken in Versarien. We are excited by the opportunities for Versarien in South Korea, including for new product developments, and we look forward to providing updates in due course.”
Graphene is the world’s thinnest material. It is ultra-light and 200 times stronger than steel. In 2004, scientists at Manchester University discovered a way to extract it from graphite. Versarien, founded in 2011, uses the material in manufacturing processes.
