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Engineering solutions company Versarien has acquired the majority stake in Cambridge Graphene, a spin-out company from the University of Cambridge.
Cambridge Graphene develops inks based on graphene and related materials using processes developed at the Cambridge Graphene Centre and has commercialised these for technology applications.
The total consideration for the acquisition is £170,000 to be settled by £25,000 in cash and the issue of 1,450,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 10p per share.
Versarien said the addition of Cambridge Graphene to its portfolio significantly increases its ability to commercialise graphene in the UK and internationally. Material produced at Manchester and Cambridge will be able to be used at either site in product development and for supply to customers.
Neill Ricketts, chief executive of Versarien, said: “We are delighted with the opportunities this acquisition brings us. This addition to our existing graphene operations, and in particular 2-DTech, which we acquired from Manchester University in April 2014, bridges the gap between the two centres of excellence for the material and really puts us at the centre of the graphene universe.”
Professor Andrea Ferrari, director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre, said: “The ultimate goal of the centre is to help transition graphene and related materials from the lab to the factory floor. This investment shows that we are on the right path, and we are thrilled to have Versarien join, via Cambridge Graphene, our growing list of industrial partners.”
Last November, Versarien announced a graphene order for an application related to a carbon-fibre composite. This was one of the first significant orders placed in the UK for the supply of high-quality graphene.
In a recent trading update, the company said it continues to make investments in its graphene-related activities, including the ordering of additional capital equipment, to take advantage of the global opportunities it is seeing and expects further orders in the coming months.