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Fieldfisher advised Versarien plc on its admission to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange and the acquisition of Total Carbide Limited.
The admission raised £3.0 million before expenses through a placing of 24,489,799 ordinary shares of 1p each at 12.25 pence per share. Immediately following its admission, the company had 83,076,085 ordinary shares in issue, giving a market capitalisation of £10.2 million at the placing price. Northland Capital Partners Limited ("Northland") is acting as nominated adviser and joint broker to Versarien plc and Westhouse Securities Limited ("Westhouse") as joint broker.
Versarien plc is an advanced engineering materials group developing valuable new materials through the commercialisation of new manufacturing processes. The Group’s trading subsidiary, Versarien Technologies manufactures a porous copper called VersarienCu, initially for use in cooling systems in computing and power conditioning equipment of all sizes.
Fieldfisher also advised on the acquisition of Total Carbide Limited from Elektron Technologies plc (AIM: EKT). Total Carbide Limited is a manufacturer of sintered tungsten carbide wear parts. The primary benefit to Versarien Technologies will be access to Total Carbide’s manufacturing assets, which allows the Group to expand production capabilities and meet anticipated demand for VersarienCu.
Fieldfisher's team was led by corporate partners Tim Bird and George Cotter, assisted by solicitor Melanie Bates. The team also comprised IP partner John Worthy, incentives partner Mark Gearing and tax partner Andrew Prowse.
Commenting on the transactions, Tim Bird said:
"We have worked with Versarien since before it became the overall winner of the StartUp Games, a competition backed by the UK Government. It has been a pleasure working with Neill Ricketts and his team, assisting them through their next phase of development. This is great news in what has been a challenging market for technology listings. It further demonstrates our team's continued activity even in a slow market. Neil Matthews' recent appointment will also boost our capital markets offering to clients."
George Cotter added:
"The Versarien flotation concludes the first half of a year which has seen us acting on an increasing number of IPOs. We have advised Rangers International Football Club plc and Kemin Resources plc on their admissions to AIM, as well as advising on the flotations of Lekoil Limited and Zoltav Resources Inc. Our equity capital markets team are continuing to work on a number of IPOs, secondary fundraisings and other transactions, giving us cause for optimism about the prospects for the rest of 2013."
Neill Ricketts, Chief Executive Officer of Versarien plc, said:
"The Board is delighted with the successful admission to AIM. This listing makes both strategic and commercial sense as we take Versarien to the next stage of its development. We look forward to working with our new shareholders and we would like to thank them all for their support and the confidence they have shown in the future of Versarien."
Marshalls Solicitors acted on behalf of Elektron Technologies plc. Memery Crystal LLP represented Northland and Westhouse.