Versarien plc has resolved to serve a notice of intention to appoint Leonard Curtis as administrators.
The graphene specialist has been close to administration throughout 2025 and said in late September that it would run out of cash by November.
It looked set to be saved as a fellow listed company agreed a provisional £200,000 takeover deal in October which would have seen it buy Versarien’s shares in Total Carbide Limited and Gnanomat SL, together with assets including patents and trademarks held by Versarien and graphene production equipment held by Versarien Graphene Limited – the latter of which is already in administration.
The deal was £100,000 for the assets and £100,000 for the shares, while the acquirer was also to take on responsibility for an Innovate UK loan of £5.7 million. Versarien plc would have become a cash shell company and looked for reverse takeover opportunities after settling its remaining liabilities.
However the Gloucestershire-based firm revealed last week that the deal had fallen through.
This morning’s decision to serve notice to appoint administrators will protect the company against any creditor enforcement action for a period of 10 working days and allow secured creditors, if they so wish, to appoint an alternative administrator, it said.
Consequently, the company has requested a suspension in the trading of its ordinary shares on London’s junior AIM market.
Versarien says a rescue deal may still be completed in this timeframe, which would avoid administration.
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Non-executive directors Sir Iain Gray CBE, Diane Savory OBE and Susan Bowen have resigned with immediate effect.
The AIM-listed graphene specialist has been battling financial headwinds for months, having warned in early 2025 that without new funding it could fail to meet its liabilities by mid-May.
By July, it described itself as on a ‘fragile financial footing’, disclosing cash reserves of £650,000.
At that time, chief executive Stephen Hodge (pictured) insisted there were reasons for optimism despite the pressure.