Versarien plc
("Versarien" or the "Company")
Agreement with Luxus
Versarien plc (AIM: VRS), the advanced materials engineering group, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Luxus Limited ("Luxus"), to develop a UK graphene enhanced polymer supply chain to enable the production in volume of graphene enhanced plastics.
Luxus manufactures high quality thermoplastics from prime and recycled polymers and is the largest independently owned plastic manufacturer in the UK, supplying plastics to the automotive, packaging, civil engineering and a variety of other sectors.
Utilising Versarien's proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets, this collaboration will involve the incorporation of graphene into polymers to enhance mechanical strength and other properties.
Versarien has a contract with the Warwick Manufacturing Group ("WMG") with the objective of optimising the performance of graphene enhanced polymers on Versarien's behalf, including the employment of dedicated Versarien resource.
This new collaboration with Luxus is designed to ensure that the developed plastics can be produced at commercial scale for supply to injection moulding companies, such as Versarien's AAC Cyroma, enabling products to be produced for a variety of industries.
Peter Atterby, Luxus Managing Director, commented: "Luxus constantly strives to be at the very forefront of thermoplastics technology innovation. We are excited to partner with Versarien to take this goal to a new level and redefine performance, durability and sustainability in the plastics industry by harnessing the benefits of graphene."
Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien, commented: "We are delighted to have signed this agreement with Luxus. We look forward to working with Luxus to ensure that a viable UK supply chain is established for the production of thermoplastics enhanced with Versarien's high quality graphene.
"The signing of this agreement is an important step in the commercialisation of graphene enhanced plastics. We are seeing strong interest from a variety of sectors in utilising the materials we are developing with WMG. Being able to produce these graphene enhanced plastics in commercial volumes will enable them to be more rapidly adopted for use in a wide variety of applications."
This announcement includes inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.
Enquiries:
Versarien Neill Ricketts, CEO Chris Leigh, CFO |
01242 269 122 |
WH Ireland (Nominated Advisor) Mike Coe Ed Allsopp |
0117 945 3470 |
IFC Advisory (Financial PR and IR) Tim Metcalfe Graham Herring Heather Armstrong |
0203 934 6630 |
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 five subsidiaries operating under two divisions:
Graphene and Plastics
2-DTech Ltd, which specialises in the supply, characterisation and early stage development of graphene products. www.2-dtech.com
ACC Cyroma Ltd, 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 will have the ability to produce graphene-enhanced plastic products. www.aaccyroma.co.uk
Cambridge Graphene Ltd, supplies novel inks based on graphene and related materials, using patented processes to develop graphene materials technology for licensing to manufacturers. www.cambridgegraphene.com
Thermal and Hard Wear Products
Versarien Technologies Ltd. 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 Ltd, a leading manufacturer in sintered tungsten carbide for applications in arduous environments such as the oil and gas industry. www.totalcarbide.com