DMTR.L Regulatory News (DMTR)

31 Dec 2007 08:00

Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group PLC31 December 2007 Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group Plc31 December 2007 OXFORD ADVANCED SURFACES GROUP PLC ("OASG" or the "Company") FIRST DAY OF DEALINGS ON AIM MARKET OF LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE PLC COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION AND SUBSCRIPTION Following the completion of the reverse takeover the details of which wereannounced on 12 December 2007, the ordinary shares of OASG (formerly calledKanyon Plc) have this morning been admitted to trading on AIM with the tickersymbol OXA. OASG has developed technology that enables the modification of thesurface properties of a range of materials in order to increase and diversifytheir applications and functionalities. The technology is based on research thatcommenced over ten years ago at the Department of Chemistry at the University ofOxford and can be applied to inert surfaces in order to modify their surfaceproperties. The Subscription and Acquisition each became unconditional uponAdmission. Admission Statistics Number of Existing Ordinary Shares (following consolidation on a 1 for 10 basis) 88,384,131Number of Consideration Shares issued 77,539,907Number of Subscription Shares issued 12,000,000Subscription Price 25 penceNumber of New Ordinary Shares in issue on Admission 177,924,038Gross proceeds of the Subscription available to the Company £3.0 millionMarket capitalisation immediately following Admission at the Subscription Price £44.50 millionTIDM Symbol OXA Percentage of Enlarged Issued Share capital represented by:Existing Ordinary Shares 49.68 %Consideration Shares 43.58 %Subscription Shares 6.74 % Zimmerman Adams International Limited is acting as the Nominated Adviser to theCompany and Hichens, Harrison & Co. Plc as the Broker to the Company. Definitions used in this announcement will have the same meanings, unless thecontext requires otherwise, as those used in the AIM admission document of theCompany dated 12 December 2007. Marcelo Bravo, CEO, commented "We are delighted that OASG has successfully listed on AIM today. We believethat Admission to AIM and the funds available to the company will provide anideal platform for future growth of the Company. OASG has a strong team and welook forward to the future development of the Company " OASG Strategy The strategy is to become an advanced materials and technology solutions companywith business units across a range of markets. The board of OASG have identifiedthree priority markets for the application of the technology, which are: 1. Electronics (including PCB's, plastic electronics, electromechanical devices and flat displays); 2. Industrial specialties (including specialty fibres, textiles, laminates and composites); and 3. Life sciences/health care markets (including sterile surfaces, separation media and microarrays). The board's focus will be on both exploiting the technology in the marketsdescribed above as well as developing further applications of the Technology inareas such as photovoltaics through Solar Labs plc (another subsidiary in thegroup), biomedical materials and specialised filtration media. The board plans to establish three distinct business units in the above marketswithin OASG and to recruit commercial directors to run and develop thesebusiness units. In addition, it is the intention of the Continuing Board tocontinue to seek to establish opportunities in-house or through externalcollaborations in markets such as photovoltaics and membranes for separation andfiltration processes. It is expected that OASG will initially generate development fees from thesepartnerships before ultimately licensing its Technology for commercial use. Theboard believe such partnering arrangements will enable OAS to leverage therelevant partners expertise in particular sectors as well as their market accessresulting in lower risk for OAS and a faster route to market. OASG does not, however, intend to manufacture chemicals or materials on a largescale itself. Instead, its strategy will be to enter into co-developmentarrangements with leading companies with applications in high value markets aswell as leading speciality chemical companies. Where appropriate, OASG willenter into contract manufacturing arrangements. To support the business and technology development needs, it is the board'sintention to establish a base research and design capability with both anorganic chemistry synthesis team and several focused application developmentteams in electronics, speciality industrials and life sciences. OASG will also explore opportunities to establish various externalcollaborations with academics both at the University of Oxford and elsewhere todevelop further Intellectual Property Rights in these areas. The Enlarged Groupwill use the experience of the Continuing Board in the development ofcollaborations with academic research institutions to commercialise intellectualproperty. OASG Technology OASG' technology is a coating technology that exploits a reactive type ofmolecule, known as a carbene. The technology controls the reactivity of themolecule so that it can be applied to inert surfaces in order to modify theirsurface properties. The technology is a platform technology that permits themodification of a range of materials to deliver a range of functionalities, thuscreating new opportunities in advanced materials. The coatings are applied to surfaces in a multi-step process. Firstly, thecoating is rolled, dipped, painted or sprayed onto the surface and, secondly,the coating is then cured by heat or UV resulting in a chemically attachedcoating. OAS is working to further develop the technology to enable it todeliver precise patterns of surface functionality and to deliver more than onefunctionality on a substrate. The technology enables a range of materials to be modified including: • natural polymers such as cotton and wool; • inert synthetic polymers such as polypropylene, PET and polyimide; and • inorganic surfaces such as glasses, alumina, diamond, graphite and other allotropes of carbon. Principal applications of the technology OAS' initial strategy has been to explore a range of industries and, sinceincorporation in September 2006, it has had contact with over sixty companiesthroughout the world. Following on from this, OAS has signed confidentialityagreements with approximately thirty companies to proceed to advanceddiscussions regarding the technology. This has resulted in OAS signingagreements with seven companies for co-development projects which are currentlyrevenue-earning. Moreover, OAS is discussing a number of proposals with variouspotential customers and conducting several "preliminary proof of concept"evaluations with a view to embarking on development programmes in the nearfuture. OAS will initially focus on three areas of application following its testing ofthe technology in potential markets it has investigated during the first year ofits commercial operations. They are not, however, in the board's opinion,representative of the breadth and scope of the applicability of the technology. As OAS scales its business development activities, it is the board's intentionthat there will be a growth in the number of projects looking at morefunctionalities and substrate materials in differing areas of application. Theboard has identified the following technological areas which they intend toinitially focus OAS activities in exploiting: 1. Tailored Wetting Properties The wettability (hydrophillicity, hydrophobicity, oleophillicity andoleophobicity) of a material or the degree to which a material can be wetted bya liquid is an important function for OAS' customers in a number of applicationscurrently being developed by OAS. The Technology can be used to tailor the wettability of a range of materialsincluding low surface energy substrates such as fluoropolymers. OAS is currentlydeveloping its Technology in this area as follows: • the development of coatings to provide hydrophillicity to fluoropolymers for use in the electronics industry as well as for use in the medical implant industry; • the development of treatments to help disperse particulates such as pigments; and • the development of coatings to provide hydrophobicity to substrate materials used in the electronic displays industry and the inkjet device industry. 2. Adhesion Promotion The technology can be used to promote chemical adhesion acting as a primer forexisting adhesives, bonding agents or radiation cured coatings as well asfacilitating the incorporation of particles at the interface between materialsto increase adhesion. OAS is currently using the technology to develop coatings: • to enhance the adhesion between various low surface energy polymers to protective coatings; and • to metallise ("adhere metal") to various substrates including glass, silica and polymers for application in electronics and the decorative automotive industry. 3. Biocidal Activity OAS has designed a coating using its technology which permits the release ofhydrogen peroxide, an environmentally benign broad spectrum biocide which can beregenerated by treating with a solution of hydrogen peroxide. The board believesthis application of the technology could be used in consumer and healthcaremarkets as well as in water and air purification. Contact Marcelo Bravo - Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group Plc 01865 854 807Michael Bretherton- Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group Plc 020 7099 7266 David Galan/Jonathan Evans - Zimmerman Adams International Limited (Nominated Adviser) 020 7060 1760 Notes Zimmerman Adams International Limited ("ZAI"), which is authorised and regulatedin the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting asnominated adviser exclusively for the Company and for no-one else in connectionwith the matters the subject of this announcement and will not be responsible toany person other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to itscustomers or for advising any other person in connection with such matters. The duties and responsibilities of ZAI as the Company's nominated adviser underthe AIM Rules for nominated advisers are owed solely to London Stock ExchangePlc and are not owed to the Company or to any director or proposed director orshareholder of the Company or anyone else. ZAI is not making any representationor warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of thecontents of this announcement. This announcement does not constitute an offer of, or the solicitation of anoffer to buy or subscribe for, the securities referred to herein nor shall it orany part of it form the basis of or be relied on in connection with or act as aninducement to enter into any contract of commitment whatsoever to any person inany jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful and,in particular, is not for release, publication or distribution in or into theUnited States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not beregistered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'USSecurities Act'), and may not be offered or sold within the US or for theaccount or benefit of a US person except in certain transactions exempt from theregistration requirements of the US Securities Act. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered underthe applicable securities laws of any province or territory of Australia,Canada, Japan, the Republic of Ireland or South Africa and may not be offered orsold within Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Ireland or South Africa orto, or for the account or benefit of citizens or residents of Australia, Canada,Japan, the Republic of Ireland or South Africa. The distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restrictedby law, and persons into whose possession this announcement, or any documentreferred to herein, comes should inform themselves about, and observe, any suchrestrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute aviolation of the securities or other laws of any such jurisdiction. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange