Shares in Manchester spinout company Nanoco have dropped 55% in trading today (writing at 2.55pm) after it said this morning that it is looking to delist from the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
Nanoco Group plc, headquartered in Runcorn, develops and manufactures cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials. These are used in monitors, TVs and infra-red sensors.
In 2024 it began cutting jobs in an attempt to preserve cash as it explored a sale via financial advisor CDX Advisors. However in January this year it said it had terminated that process and it said this morning it would seek shareholder approval to delist.
“The board believes that by taking further measures to reduce the company’s operating costs and carefully investing its remaining resources in existing high-potential business areas, greater value can be generated for shareholders,” it stated.
Last year Nanoco – which currently has around 40 staff and a cash balance of £10.1 million – settled a legal case with South Korean multinational electronics corporation LG Technologies over alleged patent infringements. However it ended legal action against Shoei Chemical Inc. and Shoei Electronic Materials, Inc with no payments made.
In 2023 it won $150m in a legal dispute with Samsung, settling on a no fault basis for the alleged infringement of the group’s intellectual property.
Cancellation in the trading of its shares is expected to result in a further annual cost savings of £700,000, the company said.
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“The company is neither currently experiencing any financial difficulty nor is it expected to in the near term,” it continued. “These cost savings will extend the group’s cash runway, with a view to being break-even in the medium term.
“Additionally, this will also free up significant resource which can be allocated to the achievement of the group’s strategic objectives.”
Were these cost savings to not be achieved, and were there further delays in the commercialisation of the company’s products, the group’s ability to break even in the medium term and achieve its strategic objectives would be further hindered by the current cost and resource burden associated with being a listed company, it added.
Both the cancellation and re-registration as a private company require the approval of not less than 75% of the votes cast by shareholders at a general meeting on 19th June 2026. Should this be achieved, cancellation would take place on 20th July and re-registration on or around 27th July.
It intends to offer shareholders access to a matched bargain facility via JP Jenkins for a minimum of 12 months afterwards, which would allow trading in shares.
Shares are down 62% in the year to date and 75% down over 12 months.