Agreement of Exclusive UK Distribution Rights

RNS Number : 6360C

Tirupati Graphite PLC

24 February 2022

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement this information is considered to be in the public domain.

24 February 2022

Tirupati Graphite plc

('Tirupati' or the 'Company')

Agreement of Exclusive UK Distribution Rights for Flame Retardant Products

Tirupati Graphite plc (TGR.L, TGRHF.OTCQX), the specialist graphite and graphene company developing sustainable new age materials, announces that Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited ('TSG' ), whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement to acquire 100% of the equity shares subject to regulatory approvals, has signed an exclusive UK marketing and distribution agreement with Minralis Limited ("Minralis") for TSG's range of expandable graphite-based CarboflameX® and GrafEN 45545® products.

TSG is developing a suite of graphite-based products to be used in hi-tech applications like lithium-ion batteries, composites, foils, gaskets, thermal management and expandable graphite-based flame retardant products for which it has secured UK REACH registration for marketing in the UK.

The Company continues to work on creating global markets for these graphite-based products and has prioritised the growing UK demand for flame retardant technology in response to the UK Government's 2021 commitment to invest £5 billion into building safety, including the replacement of unsafe cladding, following the enquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy.

TSG offers trademarked, expandable graphite-based flame retardant composite products for a suite of building materials, automobile and aerospace components including polyurethane and latex foams, intumescent tapes, panels, cable jointing compounds and many more which are known to be effective in curbing fire threats at the origin and in case of fire, retarding the spread. It is also known to be more effective in reducing melt dripping, smoke and toxic gas emissions ultimately reducing the threat to human life. Advantages of CarboflameX® include high compatibility, customised grades for different flame retardant standards, stabilised intercalation and non-hygroscopic properties. GrafEN 45545® is designed also to directly achieve the HL3 level safety standard in foams as per the EU's EN 45545 fire safety standards.

TSG and Minralis have been working in collaboration on product tests with several buyers and have achieved approval from a number of Minralis's key clients. This has resulted in a first order from Minralis for 66 tons of CarboflameX®, valued at c. US$ 200,000, to be delivered in three shipments the first of which has sailed, with the final shipment scheduled to sail mid-March.

Separate to the Minralis agreement, TSG has already received and fulfilled its first orders in the UK for its CarboflameX® products from established manufacturers of building materials and thermal management products which is resulting in repeat orders and it retains the right to sell to buyers it has already been engaged with as a carve out from the exclusivity agreement with Minralis.

Through the collaboration, Minralis and TSG expect to reach first year revenues of US$1 million from the sale of TSG's graphite-based products before going on to achieve a leadership position in the growing expandable graphite markets in the UK.

Shishir Poddar, Executive Chairman of Tirupati Graphite, said:

"The expandable Graphite markets in the UK are growing at a rapid pace with some buyers reporting that their orders have doubled year-on-year. This is an opportune time for us to establish ourselves in this niche product arena in our home markets, which may prompt us to consider creating downstream facilities for the suite of products in the UK, including for lithium-ion anode materials, and potentially graphene. We see this as a beginning that will provide us opportunities in the UK market to lay the foundations for realising the future potential of the fire safety and energy transition arena which are the core of our growth drivers.

"The Company's graphite-based flame retardant products offers considerable advantages given the extensive remedial work required to meet the Government's building and construction safety commitments. In Minralis, with their history and longstanding relationships of the principal directors with customers in the UK market for flame retardant and other expandable graphite markets, we have secured a great partner. We look forward to working with Minralis to accelerate our speciality graphite sales in the UK market."  

Nigel Lockwood, Director of Minralis, said:

"I have been engaged in the flame retardant and other expandable graphite markets for decades, and as such we are fortunate indeed to enjoy excellent working relationships with the largest users of expandable graphite products in the UK.  Since we began collaboration with Tirupati we have been hugely impressed and excited by the unrivalled technical excellence of not only the existing expandable graphite range, but also by the pipeline of ground breaking products that will ensure our combined ascendancy to a leading position in the passive fire protection sector in the UK."

ENDS

For further information, please visit https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:

Tirupati Graphite Plc Puruvi Poddar - Chief of Corporate & Business Development	[e-mail] [phone]
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker) Ben Maitland - Corporate Finance Robert Emmet - Corporate Broking	[phone] [phone]
FTI Consulting (Financial PR) Ben Brewerton / Nick Hennis / Ojasvi Goel / Kelly Smith	[phone] [e-mail]

About Tirupati Graphite

Tirupati Graphite Plc is the specialist graphite and graphene company developing sustainable new age materials.  With a unique set of properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple growth streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D and advanced materials. The Company places a special emphasis on "green" applications, including renewable energy and energy efficiency, energy storage, thermal management, and advanced materials development, and is committed to ensuring its operations are sustainable as well. 

The Company's operations include primary mining and processing in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects, Sahamamy and Vatomina; 12,000 tpa installed capacity of high-quality flake graphite concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being produced and sold to customers globally, planned to increase to 84,000 tpa by end 2024 as per the Company's modular medium-term development plan. 

In India, through Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited ('TSG'), whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement to acquire 100% of the equity shares subject to regulatory approvals, Tirupati is developing a suite of speciality graphite for use in hi-tech applications like lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants, thermal management, and composites. Its current operations include the 1,200 tpa Patalganga Project, focused on manufacturing the Company's trademarked expandable graphite products CARBOFLAMEX® and GrafEN 45545™. TSG is further expanding the Patalganga Project to 4,800 tpa and developing the 30,000 tpa specialty graphite project in two 15,000 tpa modules which will include capabilities to manufacture high-purity, expandable, micronized and spherical graphite and using its unique green processing technologies for the manufacturing of these advanced materials.

TSG has also established and continues to develop the Tirupati Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, a state-of-the-art R&D centre focussed on manufacturing graphene, developing its applications and advanced materials using graphene, and further providing environmentally friendly technologies consultancy for mineral processing.   

 

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