New agreements with Meditech

RNS Number : 1635H

Symphony Environmental Tech. PLC

02 August 2021

 

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as amended by the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 . Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

2 August 2021

SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES PLC

("Symphony", "Company" or the "Group")

New Agreements with Meditech

 to expand sales in the Far East and globally

Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc (AIM:SYM), global specialists in technologies that make plastic and rubber products "smarter, safer and sustainable" is pleased to announce that it has entered into a significant collaboration  with Meditechs Global Co Limited ("Meditech") through the conclusion on 2nd August 2021 of four separate agreements on distribution, manufacturing, marketing and corporate investment.  This collaboration is intended to accelerate and expand sales of d2w and d2p technologies and finished products in China and globally, through Meditech's established network of manufacturers and commercial end-users.

Meditech is the holding company of a group of established glove manufacturers with factories in Malaysia and China, specialising in medical grade nitrile disposable gloves. Further information about Meditech is included in the Notes section below.

DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

Symphony has appointed Meditech as an authorised distributor for its d2w and d2p additive and masterbatch technologies in China. Exclusivity for all these products has initially been agreed for sale to five specific large Chinese companies, who are all existing customers or relationships of Meditech. Further exclusivity in China may be granted to Meditech, with due regard to Symphony's existing distributors in China, should Meditech purchase for distribution a minimum level of products from Symphony.

The distribution agreement is for an initial 10-year term.

MANUFACTURING AGREEMENT

Meditech will purchase trial quantities of Symphony's d2p and d2w additives for manufacturing prototype batches of gloves containing d2p and/or d2w and for seeking certification of the gloves for sale in the EU and the US under PPE, Medical Device and Food Contact regulations.  Technical cooperation is already progressing and is expected to take up to six months. Sales agreements are anticipated much sooner in some markets.

If the trial batches are satisfactory to both Symphony and Meditech, commercial quantities of each type of glove will be agreed. In addition to paying for additives supplied by Symphony, Meditech will pay a royalty for the use of Symphony's IP and branding.

The manufacturing agreement is for an initial 5-year term, and Meditech has stated its ambition that all gloves manufactured by it will be made with d2p anti-microbial and d2w oxo-biodegradable technology before 2024.  Exclusive supply of d2w and d2p is envisaged for glove manufacture in Malaysia and China if sales of Meditech gloves incorporating d2p and/or d2w exceed an annual threshold of 100 million gloves.

MARKETING AGREEMENT

Meditech has appointed Symphony as an authorised but non-exclusive global distributor for its nitrile gloves made with Symphony's d2p and/or d2w technologies. Exclusivity is envisaged for certain companies and/or territories, to be specified if sales exceed a significant threshold.

The marketing agreement is for an initial 3-year term.

CORPORATE AGREEMENT

For the purposes of aligning the commercial and corporate interests of Symphony and Meditech, Meditech has undertaken that it will, no later than 6 months from the date of the agreement, acquire not less than 2.5% and not more than 20% of the total issued ordinary share capital of Symphony. The shares may be purchased in the open market, or by private treaty, or at Symphony's absolute discretion, by the issue of new ordinary shares at no less than 35p per share.

SUMMARY

Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony, said "These agreements will provide Symphony with a much stronger presence in the Far East and will give us a secure supply of gloves made with our antimicrobial and/or biodegradable technology for our growing international trade in gloves. In addition, we welcome Meditech's agreement to invest in Symphony so that our commercial and corporate interests are more closely aligned."

Andrew Dai, President of Meditech, said "For many years our focus has been on products which protect human health, and we welcome the opportunity to make these products even more effective by using Symphony's d2p antimicrobial technology.  We are pleased that Symphony wishes to market them through its worldwide distribution network. We are impressed by Symphony's other d2p products and we are confident that there will be demand for them in our markets in China, and elsewhere in Asia.  At the same time we are increasingly concerned to protect the environment, and we see much potential in Symphony's d2w technology for dealing with plastic waste which gets into the open environment.  This is a huge problem in Asia. Finally, we will be making an equity investment in Symphony so as to align our commercial and corporate interests"

Enquiries

Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc
Michael Laurier, CEO	Tel: [phone]
Ian Bristow, CFO
www.symphonyenvironmental.com
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
David Foreman / Nick Cowles / Kieran Russell (Corporate Finance)	Tel: [phone]
Dominic King / Victoria Ayton (Sales)	Tel: [phone]
Hybridan LLP (Joint Broker) Claire Louise Noyce	Tel: [phone]

The person responsible for arranging the release of this information is Michael Laurier, CEO of the Company.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Meditech

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Meditech is an international medical and technology investment group leading the fight against COVID 19 as a supplier of the Sinopharm vaccine.  Also supplying high quality, cost-effective medical and personal protective equipment ("PPE") and Bioperfectus medical testing kits, to governments and commercial entities worldwide.

Meditech is a significant shareholder of Asia Health Services Limited, an authorised distributor of the Sinopharm Vaccine, and has entered into a joint venture with Jiangsu Bioperfectus Technologies Co., Ltd, which is a key real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) product supplier for the disease-prevention and control market in China.

Meditech is also a significant shareholder of Meditech Gloves in Malaysia and of Nacosa Yiwu Ruijia Trade Co., Ltd. in China - each a manufacturer of quality nitrile and latex disposable gloves, and other PPE.

About Symphony Environmental Technologies plc  

https://www.symphonyenvironmental.com  

Symphony has developed a range of additives, concentrates and master-batches marketed under its d₂p® ("designed to protect") trademark, which can be incorporated in a wide variety of plastic and non-plastic products so as to provide protection against many different types of bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, moulds, and insects, and against fire.  d₂p products also include odour, moisture and ethylene adsorbers as well as other types of food-preserving technologies. For an overview see www.d2p.net   Symphony has launched d₂p anti-microbial household gloves and toothbrushes and "Symfresh" food-packaging, and is developing a range of other d₂p finished-products for retail sale.

Symphony has also developed and continues to develop, a biodegradable plastic technology which addresses the problem of microplastics by turning ordinary plastic at the end of its service-life into a waxy substance which is biodegradable. It is then no longer a plastic and can be bioassimilated in the open environment in a similar way to a leaf. The technology is branded d₂w® and appears as a droplet logo on many thousands of tonnes of plastic packaging and other plastic products around the world. In some countries, most recently Saudi Arabia, oxo-biodegradable plastic is mandatory.

The Group has complemented its d₂w biodegradable product range with d₂c "compostable resins and products" that have been tested to US and EU composting standards.

Symphony has also developed the d₂Detector®, a portable device which analyses plastics and detects counterfeit products.  This is useful for government officials tasked with enforcing legislation, and Symphony's d₂t tagging and tracer technology is available for further security.

Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has established itself as an international business with 74 distributors around the world. Products made with Symphony's plastic technologies are now available in nearly 100 countries and in many different product applications. Symphony itself is accredited to ISO9001 and ISO14001.

Symphony is a member of The OPA (www.biodeg.org) and actively participates in the Committee work of the British Standards Institute (BSI), the American Standards Organisation (ASTM), the European Standards Organisation (CEN), and the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

Further information on the Group can be found at www.symphonyenvironmental.com and twitter @SymphonyEnv  See also Symphony on Instagram. A Symphony App is available for downloading to smartphones.

 

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