Receipt of Final Litigation Proceeds

Nanoco Group PLC

24 January 2024

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                            24 January 2024

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014/EU) AS THE SAME HAS BEEN RETAINED IN UK LAW AS AMENDED BY THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR").

Nanoco Group plc

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

Receipt of Final Litigation Proceeds

Proposals for Return of Capital to follow

Nanoco Group plc (LSE: NANO), a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials emanating from its technology platform, today announces that it has received the second tranche of litigation proceeds from Samsung after settling last year on a no fault basis for the alleged infringement of the Group's IP.

The Group has received a net sum of $71.75m, being $75.0m less the expected Korean withholding tax, which amounted to $3.25m. The Korean withholding tax is available to offset Nanoco's future profits in the UK.

The Group previously announced the hedging of this tranche of proceeds at a rate of $1.22 / £1.00. The funds will be converted at this rate and generate a sterling receipt of £58.8m. This represents a gain of £2.1m compared to the current exchange rate for USD.

The Group is finalising its proposals for the amount and structure of the return of capital which can now go ahead following this receipt of the second tranche of litigation proceeds. The Group expects to update shareholders shortly on the final proposals which will be in line with the previously announced commitment to return between £33.0m and £40.0m to shareholders.

As previously communicated, the remaining proceeds will be invested in R&D and commercial activities to expand our range of high-performing materials, developing new materials with enhanced performance, as well as expanding our reach, a proactive IP licensing programme, payment of debt obligations, and to provide working capital through to the self-financing position that is expected during 2025.

Brian Tenner, Nanoco's CEO, commented:

"With receipt of these proceeds we can now finalise our plans for the significant return of capital to shareholders. The proceeds will also ensure that our commercial business is properly funded to take advantage of the growing commercial traction and development opportunities for our innovative platform technology."

- Ends -

The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Nanoco is Liam Gray, Company Secretary.

MAR

The information contained within this announcement is considered by the Company to contain inside information for the purposes of UK MAR.  Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information will be considered to be in the public domain.

For further information, please contact:

Nanoco Group plc:

Brian Tenner, CEO                                                                                                             ​       [phone]

Liam Gray, CFO & Company Secretary

Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Financial Adviser & Joint Corporate Broker):

Ed Frisby / George Lawson (Corporate Finance)                                                                   [phone]

Tim Redfern / Charlie Combe (Corporate Broking)

Jasper Berry (Sales)

Turner Pope Investments (Joint Corporate Broker):

Andrew Thacker                                                                                                                  ​       [phone]

James Pope

Powerscourt                                                                                                                      ​       [phone]

Elly Williamson

Ollie Simmonds

[e-mail]

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement (including information incorporated by reference in this announcement) and other information published by Nanoco may contain statements about Nanoco that are or may be deemed to be forward looking statements.  Such statements are prospective in nature.  All statements other than historical statements of facts may be forward looking statements.  Without limitation, statements containing the words "targets", "plans", "believes", "expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "may", "anticipates", "estimates", "projects" or "considers" or other similar words may be forward looking statements.

Forward looking statements inherently contain risks and uncertainties as they relate to events or circumstances in the future.  Important factors such as business or economic cycles, the terms and conditions of Nanoco's financing arrangements, tax rates, or increased competition may cause Nanoco's actual financial results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any forward looking statements.  Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.  Nanoco disclaims any obligation to update any forward looking or other statements contained herein, except as required by applicable law.

About Nanoco Group plc

Nanoco (LSE: NANO) is a nano-material production and licensing company, specialising in the production of its patented cadmium free quantum dots (CFQD®) and other patented nano-materials for use in the electronics industries.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Runcorn, UK, Nanoco continues to build out a world-class, patent-protected IP portfolio alongside the scaling of the production for commercial orders.

Nano-materials are materials with dimensions typically in the range 1 - 100 nm. Nano-materials have a range of useful properties, including optical and electronic. Quantum dots are a subclass of nano-material that have size-dependent optical and electronic properties. Within the sphere of quantum dots, the Group exploits different characteristics of the quantum dots to target different performance criteria that are attractive to specific markets or end-user applications such as the Sensor, Electronics and Display markets. Nanoco's CFQD® quantum dots are free of cadmium and other toxic heavy metals, and can be tuned to emit light at different wavelengths across the visible and infrared spectrum, rendering them useful for a wide range of display applications. Nanoco's HEATWAVE™ quantum dots can be tuned to absorb light at different wavelengths across the near-infrared spectrum, rendering them useful for applications including cameras and image sensors.

Nanoco is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, holds the LSE's Green Economy Mark, and trades under the ticker symbol NANO. For further information please visit: www.nanocotechnologies.com.

 

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