Gloucestershire engineering firm Versarien has agreed a licensing deal with a Brazilian-headquartered company that produces and sells paints, wood preservatives and wood-finishing products.
The Cheltenham-based firm, which uses graphene to make products for industries including retail, biomedical and aerospace, has entered into a manufacturing licence agreement and a know-how licence and technical assistance agreement with Montana Química LTDA.
The agreements cover the use of certain graphene materials in products to be manufactured and sold by Montana in South America, with Versarien providing technical assistance and training to Montana.
Under the terms, Versarien has granted a licence to Montana for an initial five years to use certain intellectual property and ‘know-how’ owned by the company in their business in South America.
Montana will pay Versarien initial fees of £50,000, with a further payment of £25,000 due to Versarien, together with an amount equal to 5% of the total sales revenue earned from products manufactured using Versarien’s intellectual property subject to minimum royalty payments of £25,000 a year.
Dr Stephen Hodge, chief executive of Versarien, said: “The agreements with Montana are in line with Versarien’s strategy to be a manufacturing-light business in the UK and licence our patents, know-how and other intellectual property to key partners. We are very pleased to be partnering with Montana, a leading business in its markets in South America, and look forward to collaborating closely with them as they bring products enhanced by Versarien’s technology to the market.”
Andreas von Salis, chief executive of Montana, added: “The agreements with Versarien give Montana the opportunity to capitalise on the growing markets for graphene in Brazil with the intention to utilise graphene in application areas such as paints, coatings and lubricants.”
The news comes just months after Versarien raised £450,000 through a stock market placing as part of a turnaround strategy.
Last year the firm posted a widened £3.4m pre-tax loss in its half-year results . The AIM-listed firm said tough economic conditions had delayed the commercialisation of its products.
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