Chemistry data and software firm DeepMatter is set to quit the London Stock Exchange after 16 years as a PLC.
The Glasgow company’s board of directors said it has decided to delist from the exchange’s junior AIM market following discussions with major shareholders and potential institutional investors over securing capital to fund future working capital requirements.
DeepMatter intends to re-register as a private limited company. It said this “will provide greater opportunities to raise additional capital” and claims this view has been supported by major shareholders.
Any delisting would be conditional on shareholder approval.
DeepMatter developed the SmartChemistry platform, enabling scientists across a range of industries – including pharma, BioTech, agri-science, scientific publishers and contract research organisations – to capture, access and exploit the vast amounts of data created in chemical reactions.
It listed in London in 2006 and its shares hit a peak of more than £78 less than two years afterwards. That was short-lived and in recent years shares have traded below £10 and even £1 at times.
A brief recovery in February 2019 saw them top £4 but the last 12 months have seen them hover around 12p.
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Shares in the company – which announced a multi-year database licence agreement with New York-listed Merck & Co Inc a month ago – nosedived on Thursday morning to 0.61p at the time of writing (8.30am).
The company anticipates it will seek to raise around £1 million from its major shareholders ahead of the delisting, following which a more substantial capital raise would be pursued as a private limited company in 2023.
The group continues to expect revenue for the current financial year to be no less than £1.5m, while it has cash and short-term receivables of £700,000.