15 Feb 2010 07:00
POLYFECT ENTERS DUE DILIGENCE AGREEMENT
IPSO Ventures plc ("IPSO"), the creator of commercial value from technology, is pleased to announce thatits investee company, Polyfect Solutions Limited ("Polyfect"), has entered into a technical due diligence agreement (the "Agreement") with a major US surface coatings company (the "US company").
In return for an upfront payment of €45,000, the Agreement grants the US company an exclusive right, for three months, to evaluate certain commercial applications for Polyfect's technology and an option to enter into an exclusive licence for those applications, subject to mutual agreement.
Under the Agreement, the US company will evaluate the effectiveness of Polyfect's technology in the production of lower cost and better performing polymer emulsion coatings.
Polyfect has made rapid progress over the past 12 months:
·; Successfully scaling up its innovative technology, to enable its operation as a simple commercial process;
·; Engaging its first customers and generating initial revenues; and
·; Developing significant additional intellectual property.
Polyfect's Technology
The Polyfect process enables savings and quality improvements to plastics through the highly efficient incorporation of functional fillers. Functional fillers are the materials which are used to change the properties of a plastic, such as making it non-static; creating gas barriers or changing its pigmentation. Conventional processes for incorporating functional fillers in plastics often achieve far from optimal results with a significant proportion of the functional material being poorly dispersed. This necessitates the use of larger quantities of filler to achieve the desired properties of the plastic. The fillers are typically more expensive than the virgin plastic and can also degrade its mechanical properties. Polyfect's technology allows significantly less filler to be used, resulting in both cost savings and quality improvements as well as having a positive environmental benefit.
Polyfect's technology has the potential to enable the mass production of:
·; Cheaper plastics using smaller quantities of expensive functional fillers;
·; Plastics with improved mechanical properties; and
·; Novel plastic materials with highly attractive properties.
Polyfect will grant licences for various applications of its technology to several operators in the plastics' supply chain for integration into their existing processes. The capital expenditure and running costs of using this technology are low, whilst the potential material cost savings are often high, making it profitable for licensees with a short payback time.
Ian Balchin, CEO of Polyfect, said: "Our technology has significant potential in a broad range of plastics applications. The US company is carrying out a very comprehensive evaluation of the use of the Polyfect process across their product range. We are engaging with a number of other multi-national corporations for different applications, who also recognise the potential of the process and wish to be amongst the first to realise its benefits."
Simon Hunt, Chairman of IPSO and Polyfect, said: "We are very pleased to have attracted the interest of a major US operator in the emulsions coatings sector. It is a strong endorsement of Polyfect's technology and we look forward to progressing this interest to a satisfactory commercial outcome."
Further information, please contact:
IPSO Ventures plc: Tel: 020 7921 2990
Simon Hunt, Chairman simon@ipsoventures.com
www.ipsoventures.com
Polyfect Solutions Limited
Ian Balchin, CEO ian.balchin@polyfectsolutions.com
Ambrian Partners Limited Tel: 020 7634 4712
Samantha Harrison samantha.harrison@ambrian.com
Rawlings Financial PR Limited Tel: 01653 618 016
Catriona Valentine catriona@rawlingsfinancial.co.uk
www.rawlingsfinancial.co.uk