Mercia Asset Share News (MERC)

(ShareCast News) - Innovative technology investment group Mercia Technologies announced a new direct investment of up to £1.9m in Faradion, a company focused on the development and commercialisation of advanced, low-cost battery materials, on Wednesday.The AIM-traded company said the investment is part of a syndicated investment round of up to £3.2m alongside existing shareholders which include Finance Yorkshire Seedcorn Fund and industry partner, Haldor Topsoe.Faradion has been identified by Mercia as an 'Emerging Star' from the Enterprise Ventures managed funds portfolio.EV was acquired by Mercia in March 2016 and Faradion is now the third new 'Emerging Star' to have emanated from these funds.Mercia has invested an initial tranche of £1.3m which represents an equity holding of 13.6%.Dependent on the completion of specific performance related milestones, a second tranche of £0.6m will be invested within the next 18 months.The board said the current investment round will be used to commercialise Faradion's lead product - a novel, low-cost sodium-ion battery technology from which Mercia believes significant value will be derived over time."This new investment by Mercia comes at a particularly crucial stage for Faradion as we look to move from the laboratory to large scale prototype production," said Faradion CEO Francis Massin."The benefits of sodium-ion battery technology have already been established in a laboratory setting, however this financial support will allow us to demonstrate that the technology can be manufactured at scale."We look forward to developing our new partnership with Mercia, which has shown great confidence in our technology."Mark Payton, chief executive officer of Mercia Technologies, said the company was delighted to make its first direct investment into Faradion."Faradion is the third company to have been sourced by the excellent team at Enterprise Ventures and added to the group's direct investment portfolio, once again demonstrating the potential of disruptive technology businesses, sourced from the UK regions."It is another example of Mercia supporting truly innovative UK businesses, from early development through our managed funds, followed by the deployment of direct capital to scale the commercial potential of the investee company."