The Group has announced it wants to open a 10,000 square foot manufacturing facility as well as a graphene industrial park.
Companies: Versarien Plc
Versarien (LON: VRS) has announced today it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to open its first manufacturing centre in China, giving the stock a healthy boost on Monday morning.
Versarian has pioneered the development of Graphene, a highly flexible, ultra-light material that is "200x times stronger than steel". It is also the thinnest material possible as well as being transparent. It has a huge array of potential applications across a wide range of industries and sectors.
The LOI outlines the Group's plan to establish a 10,000 square foot factory in the city of Jinan to produce the Group's Nanene graphene nano-platelets, with VRS supplying IP whilst local partners will establish the factory and funding for plant and equipment.
The manufacturing facility is part of a bigger plan to establish China'a first graphene industrial park, the "Jinan Graphene Valley", which aims to include a research institute to further develop graphene products. Total cost for the project is expected to be c. £55m.
Today's news comes a week after the Group announced another deal in the region. Shares jumped 10% with the news it was partnering with an Asian textiles manufacturer to supply graphene ink for the production of "smart" apparel.
The company intends to form a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong which will become one of the joint venture partners.
VRS Chief Executive Neill Ricketts said:
"It is intended that this facility will form the centre of the "Jinan Graphene Valley" and pave the way to Versarien establishing a world-class base in the Asian region. We have been afforded great support from the Chinese government and we are working with all parties to deliver this facility in record time and to capture the excitement and support for our Nanene product in China."
Shares were up over 30% to an all-time high of 95p at the time of writing.