New Commercialisation Strategy in Display

Published on 31/3/2016

Nanoco Group plc (LSE: NANO), a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, announces that it has mutually agreed with The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) (“Dow”) to modify its licence agreement for Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum dot technology. Under the modified agreement, Dow has non-exclusive rights for the sale, marketing and manufacture of Nanoco’s quantum dot technology for use in display applications while Nanoco is free to pursue a range of routes to market.

This new display strategy will allow Nanoco to maximise the roll-out of its technology and give the Company greater control over the commercialisation of its intellectual property in the display industry. In the near term, the Company intends to develop new partnerships to serve the display sector as well as to manufacture, market and sell its cadmium-free quantum dot products directly from the Company’s own plant in Runcorn.

Amid a very positive market backdrop it is an exciting time for the Company to gain further control of its strategy in the display industry. Cadmium-free quantum dots are expected to be at the centre of a major, emerging industry in consumer electronics, with DisplaySearch forecasting that 18.7 million quantum dot TVs will be shipped in 2018.

As a result of changing the Dow agreement to non-exclusive, Nanoco will receive a lower royalty rate from Dow on Dow’s sales of cadmium-free quantum dot products and the Company will not receive earn-out income from Dow. Nanoco-generated sales of cadmium-free quantum dots will be satisfied by production from the Company’s own plant in Runcorn. All other terms of the agreement with Dow remain unchanged. It is anticipated that Nanoco’s revenues in the current financial year will be lower than previously expected as a result of this new agreement. However, the Company anticipates that it will lead to higher revenues in future years.

The change in the licensing agreement does not affect commercial production of Dow’s TREVISTA™ cadmium-free quantum dots at Dow’s large scale quantum dot facility in Cheonan, South Korea, which is now supplying sample material to meet potential customers’ requirements in line with the timetable indicated in Nanoco’s AGM statement issued in December 2015.

“Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum dot technology continues to fit well with what our customers want and with our desire to develop products and services that are more sustainable for the future,” said Andrew Lee, Global Business Director, Dow Display Technologies. “We are pleased that we can bring consistent, reliable, high-volume supply of our TREVISTA™ quantum dots based on Nanoco’s cadmium-free technology to the market.”

Michael Edelman, Nanoco’s CEO, commented: “We now have a multifaceted strategy in display in which we have a non-exclusive licence agreement with Dow along with the opportunity to form new partnerships and to work independently. We believe this is a very significant development for Nanoco as we are gaining greater control over the commercialisation of our technology in display against a very positive market backdrop.”

Nanoco intends to release its interim results for the six months ended 31 January 2016 on 12 April 2016.

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About Nanoco Group plc

Nanoco is a world leader in the development and production of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nano-materials for use in multiple applications including LCD displays, lighting, solar cells and bio-imaging. In the display market, it has a licensing agreement with The Dow Chemical Company.

Nanoco was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Manchester, UK. It has production facilities in Runcorn, UK, and a US subsidiary, Nanoco Inc, based in Concord, MA. Nanoco also has business development executives in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Its technology is protected worldwide by a large and growing patent estate.

Nanoco is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol NANO. For further information please visit: www.nanocogroup.com.