Versarien Confirms CEO Twitter Comment On Chinese Proposal

(Alliance News) - Versarien PLC on Friday confirmed that a Twitter post made by Chief Executive Officer Neill Ricketts was accurate and the company did receive and reject a proposal from a Chinese investor seeking a 30% interest in the company.

In April, Versarien announced the signing of a term sheet with Beijing Institute of Graphene Technology Co Ltd for a planning cooperation to develop Versarien's graphene related business in China.

The term sheet would see the Chinese graphene company provide funding to Versarien for the planned subsidiary via an equity investment, with BIGT obtaining an up to 15% holding in Versarien.

On Thursday, Ricketts made a Twitter post reading: "For bigt the limit was always 15%, however we did have another Chinese investor who wanted up to the max 29.9%".

Commenting on this, Versarien said: "The company can confirm it previously received a proposal from an investor that cited interest to subscribe for shares up to that amount, but this was rejected and the board determined that the terms with BIGT provided the best opportunity."

Versarien also confirmed it is still in talks with BIGT and the subsidiary has now been incorporated as Beijing Versarien Technology Co Ltd, with a business licence granted by Chinese authorities.

Shares in Versarien were up 1.4% at 120.68 pence on Friday morning.