Versarien has announced the completed sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary AAC Cyroma to Harper Bennett for £0.55 million (around USD$734,000).
Versarien said the sale aligned with its strategy to focus on its core graphene technology and divest its more mature businesses. It said the consideration would be paid in 16 equal quarterly instalments of £34,375, starting three months after completion. To safeguard the transaction, Versarien would retain a charge over AAC Cyroma's assets and those of Harper Bennett until all payments were completed.
AAC Cyroma, a specialist in plastics manufacturing for sectors such as automotive and fast-moving consumer goods, recorded a loss of £0.15m for the financial year ended 30 September last year, and had net assets of £0.41m.
Proceeds from the sale would support Versarien's general corporate and working capital needs as the company sharpened its focus on developing graphene-based technologies.
“The sale of AAC Cyroma is a pivotal step in our turnaround strategy, allowing the company to continue to focus on maximizing the potential from graphene and advanced engineering technologies, and take a manufacturing-light approach,” said chief executive officer Stephen Hodge. “In our core business the pipeline of opportunities and partnerships continues to improve and I believe that Versarien is increasingly well positioned for sustained growth and industry leadership.”
In 2016, Versarien acquired AAC Cyroma, a specialist plastic manufacturer, for about £1.4m to establish a dedicated graphene plastic manufacturing factory.