The founder and CTO of listed Manchester University spinout Nanoco is to retire from the company and its board – just as the firm prepares for a second IP battle with another Korean electronics giant.
Dr Nigel Pickett, who founded the Runcorn firm 24 years ago, will remain as an employee with the business until February 2026.
Dr Ombretta Masala, who has worked for Nanoco for 18 years, directly reporting into Dr Pickett, will become director of technology but not join the board.
Nanoco Group plc develops and manufactures cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials that are used in monitors, TVs and infra-red sensors.
In 2023 it won $150m in a legal dispute with Samsung, settling on a no-fault basis for the alleged infringement of its intellectual property. In February this year it commenced litigation against another Korean electronics multinational, LG Technologies, alleging that it has willfully infringed on a number of its patents in production of its televisions.
Nanoco has confirmed that the litigation against LG Display has been served, and is progressing as expected.
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Chairman Jalal Bagherli said Pickett had made “important contributions to Nanoco, having been a pivotal player in the foundation of the business and the settlement we achieved with Samsung”.
“In Ombretta we have a very capable successor who has significant experience in all aspects of Technology development and R&D management, and she has the capabilities to drive Nanoco through what is an exciting next chapter of commercial growth,” he added.
Last year that, Nanoco cut jobs in an attempt to preserve cash as it explores a sale via financial advisor CDX Advisors, despite its considerable financial resources due to the Samsung settlement.
In a trading update this morning, which confirmed that the firm had beaten market forecasts with revenues of £7.6m, it said: “We continue to assess strategic options for the group’s operating business with a number of interested parties.”
The firm’s underlying adjusted EBITDA was also ahead of expectations, while cash at year end was £14m, above market expectations due to lower than anticipated litigation costs and ‘positive working capital variances’.
Nanoco’s core markets, along with the wider quantum dot markets, are forecast to experience significant growth, it said, claiming that it “continues to make good progress on existing Joint Development Agreements, with discussions ongoing regarding an extension to the JDA with one of our Asian Chemical customers before the expiry of the existing contract, which is due to complete in October 2025.”
CEO Dmitry Shashkov added: “This has been an important year for Nanoco during which our business development team has been fully focused on enhancing Nanoco’s profile and maximising our organic growth prospects.
“Consequently, we have a number of promising, ongoing discussions with companies across several industry segments regarding future product developments, some of which are in new areas for the Group. In tandem, we remain in discussions with multiple parties as we assess our strategic options to maximise value for shareholders, and look forward to updating shareholders in due course.”
