Nanoco shareholders have overwhelming rejected a bid to oust the board at the Cheshire nanotechnology specialist.
A group of shareholders holding around 10 per cent of the company’s shares and led by Tariq Hamoodi had called on senior management to step down and give way to their own nominated board members, claiming the company had mishandled and misinformed shareholders over its successful recent IP litigation with South Korean electronics giant, Samsung.
The litigation saw Nanoco, which develops materials used in the manufacture of monitors and TV screens, receive $150m in a “no fault” settlement with the Korean electronics giant.
The rebels requisitioned a General Meeting, held yesterday afternoon (August 14), where 12 resolutions put forward were emphatically voted down, with more than 80 per cent support for the current board in all resolutions.
Prior to the meeting Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, indicated that they would side with the board and vote against the proposals and advised others to do the same.
Christopher Richards, non-executive chairman of Nanoco, said “I would like to thank shareholders for their overwhelming support for the board in rejecting all of the requisitionists’ resolutions by such strong margins.
“As a board, we are always open to scrutiny and critique. We recognise that the requisitionists’ actions and unfounded allegations have caused damage to perceptions of Nanoco and its value.
“The actions of the requisitionists have been value destructive for shareholders in that they have required a significant amount of management time, time which should have been spent running the business and generating value for shareholders.”
Richards added that the board has acted in the best interests of shareholders throughout, but said it would attemt to improve communications with shareholders moving forwards. He added: “The business is in a better position than it’s ever been. The organic business is at an exciting inflection point, with funding underpinned by the litigation proceeds.
“We are actively pursuing further licencing activity, with our position strengthened by the validation of our IP in the Samsung litigation process. We have also committed to returning up to £40m of the net litigation proceeds to shareholders in February 2024.
“We thank shareholders for their confidence in the group’s board and strategy and look forward to updating you later in the year.”
During the Samsung case the company identified further possible IP infringements in Germany and China, and its team of advisers is now considering potential new legal action.
