Directa Plus Regulatory News (DCTA)

14 April 2020

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE EU MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Directa Plus plc

("Directa Plus" or the "Company")

Agreement with Iterchimica to Supply G+ Graphene for Use in Asphalts

Directa Plus (AIM: DCTA), a producer and supplier of graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets, is pleased to announce an agreement ("the Agreement") with partner Iterchimica, an Italian based world leader in products that enhance asphalt performance, for the supply of a special grade of the Company's G+ graphene product, known as ITC1. The G+ product is the differentiating component of Gipave®, an asphalt supermodifier developed by Directa Plus and Iterchimica and follows successful trials in Italy and the UK.

The Agreement provides for the exclusive supply of the G+ graphene product to Iterchimica in the asphalt and bitumen sector worldwide and is for an initial duration of three years. The Agreement allows the partners to take advantage of what they believe are significant existing business opportunities in Italy, the UK and the United States. The first order for the G+ ITC1 nanoplatelets for asphalt for the production of Gipave® has now been received from Iterchimica. Results from the UK trials in November 2019 are expected shortly and we are seeing growing interest from asphalt companies in the UK but also now from the USA.

Gipave® was developed by Iterchimica with the support of Directa Plus and resulted from a four year research programme with a patent filed in 2017. In an initial trial in Italy, it was confirmed as providing significant benefits compared to traditional asphalt in all areas tested: service life, resistance to the passage of vehicles, resistance to deformation and permanent plastic deformation. In addition, once laid, asphalt with Gipave® can be 100 per cent recycled, which reduces the extraction of new materials from quarries and first-use bitumen. 

Commenting, Giulio Cesareo, Founder and CEO of Directa Plus, said: "The potential of Gipave® to potentially triple the life of roads and runways is attracting significant worldwide interest from the construction industry. Its ecological benefits will also help countries to meet their carbon reduction obligations and free up resources at a time when all national and regional governments need financial assistance to fight the current COVID-19 pandemic."

Federica Giannattasio, Iterchimica CEO, added: "This agreement confirms and continues a cooperation we started four years ago. We now hope to work together on the large-scale roll-out of Gipave® and following the first trial section laid in Oxfordshire, we hope the UK will be among the leaders in adopting graphene technology for road pavements."

This announcement has been released by Giulio Cesareo, Chief Executive, on behalf of the Company.

For further information please visit http://www.directa-plus.com/ or contact:

About Directa Plus

Our focus is principally on the two sectors in which we have strong commercial advantage through developed and launched products and a technological lead: environmental (based on our Grafysorber® product) and textiles (based on our G+ products). In addition, we will continue to pursue opportunities in elastomers and composites (including tyres and asphalt), also using our G+ products. All our products are hypoallergenic, non-toxic and sustainably produced.

About Iterchimica

Iterchimica, an Italian based world leader in products that enhance both asphalt pavements performance and the laying of road surfaces in order to increase safety, environmental sustainability, and efficiency.

http://www.iterchimica.it/en/

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